GENOMIC ANALYSIS OF LAMBDOID, TB & OTHER BACTERIOPHAGES

双链DNA噬菌体是生物圈中数量最多的进化生物。然而，它们的分类仍然不清楚，它们之间的相互关系也知之甚少。通过全基因组测序对这些dsDNA尾噬菌体的表征提供了这些关系的更详细的信息，并提供了一个新的图景，其中基本上所有的dsDNA尾噬菌体都具有共同的祖先，即使它们感染不同的宿主并具有不同的病毒形态。噬菌体基因组的比较还表明，它们是由一系列遗传模块组成的，这些模块连接成功能组，并且它们本质上是镶嵌的。然而，目前还不知道有多少不同的模块化部分，或者每个模块存在多少变体。此外，交换发生的机制还有待明确阐明。我们建议通过噬菌体基因组的测序和序列、基因组组织和功能关系的比较来研究噬菌体进化的过程。此外，我们建议调查噬菌体的人口，以获得更广泛的看法自然存在于环境中的噬菌体的多样性。将开发更复杂的软件系统，大大简化数据分析步骤，并为基因组比较提供自动化方法。这些研究不仅将导致对病毒进化机制的新见解，而且将为其他研究人员提供有价值的资源，包括那些研究基础噬菌体生物学如DNA复制，基因表达和大分子组装的研究人员以及那些对噬菌体在临床问题中的应用感兴趣的研究人员，如诊断和噬菌体治疗。

The dsDNA bacteriophages are the most numerous taxon of evolving organisms in the biosphere. However, their classification remains unclear and their inter-relationships are poorly understood. Characterization of these dsDNA phages by whole genome sequencing provide more detailed information of these relationships and provides an emerging picture in which essentially all dsDNA tailed bacteriophages have shared ancestry, even through they infect different hosts and have varied viral morphologies. Comparison of phage genomes also shows that they are constructed from a series of genetic modules that are joined into functional groups and they are essentially mosaic in nature. However, it is not known how many different modular segments there are, or how many variants exist of each module. Moreover, the mechanisms by which exchange occurs have yet to be clearly elucidated. We propose to investigate the process of phage evolution through the sequencing of phage genomes and comparisons of sequences, genome organization and function relationships. In addition, we propose to survey unselected phage populations in order to obtain a broader view of the diversity of bacteriophages that naturally exist in the environment. More sophisticated software systems will be developed that will greatly simplify the data analysis steps and provide automated methods for genome comparisons. These studies will not only lead to new insights into the mechanisms of viral evolution but will provide a valuable resource for other researchers, including those studying basic phage biology such as DNA replication, gene expression and macromolecular assembly as well as those interested in the application of phages to clinical problems, such as diagnosis and phage therapy.