INVESTIGATION OF BACTERIOPHAGES OF THE BIRD PATHOGEN, BORDETELLA AVIUM

Emily Chen, Carol Duh, Emily Gallant, John Keeley, Alex Lovejoy, Anh Thu Nguyen, Dominica Petersen, Ruth Pumroy, Rina Shah, Shang-Jui Wang

Advisor: Dr. Louise Temple
Assistants: Holly Kuzmiak, Kelly Prescott, and Oktawia Wojcik

 

ABSTRACT

Bordetella avium is a bacterium that causes upper respiratory disease in many avian species. A number of strains of Bordetella avium contain two bacteriophages, Ba 1-1 and Ba 1-2. The objective of this research project was to discover which of 27 strains of B. avium contained the bacteriophage Ba 1-1, which strains contained Ba 1-2, which contained both, and which contained neither. The strains were cultured and tested for spontaneous lysis and for their ability to infect B. avium strain 197N. The results of these tests showed evidence of active phage in at least eight of the strains. Additionally, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed on the bacterial DNA using five different sets of primers, chosen for their specificity to one phage or the other. The results of the PCR indicated phage DNA presence in 24 of the 27 strains. Although few trends were apparent in the results, this experiment laid the groundwork for future experimentation regarding phage presence in B. avium.

Journal

PDF file of paper

Presentation

Slide Show (html)

Powerpoint show

Team Picture

Medium Image

Large Image

Back to Journal Title Page