Microbial Genome Sequencing: Phage Genome Sequencing for Student Biotech Training

该项目的主要目标是首先，了解病毒基因组进化的机制，其次，为本科生提供实验室经验和生物技术职业培训。感染细菌的病毒（噬菌体）占地球上基因组质量的很大一部分，可以通过将基因从宿主转移到宿主或从宿主转移到病毒，对生物体的基因组进化产生深远影响。先前来自t4样噬菌体的序列结果表明，存在大量新的潜在蛋白质编码开放阅读框（orf），其中大多数与已知的蛋白质序列没有显著匹配。本项目将确定与T4和RB69噬菌体密切相关的两种噬菌体的完整核苷酸序列。新的基因组序列将与已知基因组进行比较，以研究orf在这些病毒中获得和丢失的机制。将t4样噬菌体的基因组进化机制与其他系统的基因组进化进行比较，为基因进化和基因转移的全局过程提供新的见解。大部分的DNA准备、序列测定和分析将由新奥尔良大学的本科生和硕士生完成。通过参与此项目，学生将学习生物信息学研究的工具，并提高他们的实验室技能。这种教育推广每年将影响约50名学生，包括在科学领域代表性不足的少数民族学生。这个外联项目将对当地的科学产生积极的影响，一方面是通过提高聘用实习生的研究实验室的生产力，另一方面是通过提高当地学生对科学事业的兴趣。

The primary objectives of the project are first, to understand the mechanisms of viral genome evolution and second, to give undergraduate students laboratory experience and training for careers in biotechnology. Viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages) represent a substantial proportion of the genome mass on earth and can exert profound effects on genome evolution of living organisms by transferring genes from host to host or from host to virus. Previous sequence results from T4-like bacteriophages demonstrated the existence of large numbers of novel potential protein-coding open reading frames (ORFs), the majority of which have no significant matches to known protein sequences. The complete nucleotide sequence of two bacteriophages closely related to bacteriophages T4 and RB69 will be determined in this project. The new genome sequences will be compared to known genomes to investigate the mechanism by which ORFs are gained and lost in these viruses. The mechanism of genome evolution in T4-like bacteriophages will be compared to genome evolution of other systems to provide new insights into the global processes of gene evolution and gene transfer. Most of the preparation of DNA, sequence determination, and analysis will be performed by undergraduate and Master's students of the University of New Orleans. Through participation in this project, students will learn the tools of bioinformatics research and increase their laboratory skills. This educational outreach will impact about 50 students per year, including minority students underrepresented in the sciences. This outreach project will positively impact science in the local area, both through greater productivity of research laboratories that hire trainees and through increased interest in scientific careers among local students.