This project is for Collaborative Research at Undergraduate Institutions, involving biochemistry, molecular genetics and computational biology. A viral microorganism that infects bacteria is the bacteriophage known as T4. Because it has a relatively tiny genetic content, T4 has been a model genetic system revealing many important principles of molecular biology over the years. The entire gene sequence of T4 is now known, and more than 100 probable genes remain uncharacterized. This project uses computer programs to analyze and select genes of interest, molecular biology to clone and characterize the functions of their purified products, and biophysics and biochemistry to study the phage proteins and the host bacterial proteins with which they interact. Particular attention is given to the potential role of these proteins in the context of microbial ecology, under different environmental conditions in the natural habitat of the host. This work has a potentially major impact on understanding mechanisms by which viruses act on hosts, will lead to new tools for analyzing enzyme action, and promises an integrated cross-disciplinary experience involving undergraduates in research at the forefront of current techniques.
