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.
