CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIOPHAGE THAT INFECT WOLBACHIA

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是针对中心的，而不一定是针对调查员的机构。我们的实验室有兴趣开发工具来对一种被称为沃尔巴克氏菌的广泛存在的无脊椎动物共生体进行基因改造。这些细菌在节肢动物和丝虫中极为普遍，并且有一种专属的细胞内生活方式。这些细菌几乎感染了人类疾病的所有主要昆虫媒介(包括蚊子和采采蝇)，还与象皮病和河盲症等丝虫病相关疾病的主要症状有关。我们的目标是鉴定感染沃尔巴克氏菌的噬菌体的结构、功能和进化，长期目标是利用沃尔巴克氏噬菌体作为转导工具或用于人类丝虫病的噬菌体治疗。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Our laboratory is interested in developing tools for genetically modifying a widespread symbiont of invertebrates known as Wolbachia. These bacteria are extremely widespread in arthropods and filarial nematodes and have an obligate intracellular lifestyle. These bacteria infect nearly all of the major insect-vectors of human disease (including mosquitoes and tsetse flies), and are also implicated in the major symptoms of filarial-associated diseases such as elephantiasis and river blindness. We aim to characterize the structure, function, and evolution of bacteriophage that infect Wolbachia with the long-range goal of using the Wolbachia bacteriophage as a transduction tool or for phage therapy of human filarial diseases.