Can specialist phages acquire new hosts without losing old hosts?
Ellen Simms, Professor
Integrative Biology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Spring 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Fall 2024.
Bacteriophages (phages, for short) are viruses that attack and kill bacteria. Phages tend to be host specific (specialize on particular bacteria), which allows them to influence bacterial community composition. Legumes are plants that benefit from symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria called rhizobia, which colonize nodules in legume roots. Rhizobia are vulnerable to lytic phages called rhizobiophages, which might determine which legumes can survive in a plant community.
This project will involve manipulative evolution experiments designed to ask if rhizobiophages are specialized because the fitness benefits obtained from being able to attack one rhizobium type trade off with the ability to attack another rhizobium type.
Role: With guidance and support from the project supervisor, you will participate in experimental design, bacterial culturing, amplifying and characterizing bacteriophages, and collecting and analyzing data. Over the course of the semester, you may learn sterile technique, initiation and maintenance of bacterial cultures, phage isolation and amplification, and proper data management techniques.
Qualifications: You must have a strong work ethic and an interest in microbiology and ecology. You must be dedicated to learning from and contributing to the project, which involves meticulous laboratory procedures, attention to detail, continuous care of bacteria, and sometimes boring and repetitive protocols, but exciting and rewarding results. Experience with sterile technique and bacterial culturing is a definite plus. Applicants with a genuine interest in biology will be favored. We prefer that you be at least a sophomore in a Biological Science major.
Hours: to be negotiated
Related website: http://www.simmslab.org
Biological & Health Sciences