Poster Session I
Project Type
Poster
Project Funding and Affiliations
University of Montana
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Christopher Vassallo
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Bacterial viruses, called bacteriophages, constitute a major threat to bacteria, driving a vast evolutionary arms race three billion years in the making. Out of this arms race bacteria have developed numerous types of bacterial immune systems varying in levels of complexity. The most notable bacterial immune system, CRISPR-Cas, is a suite of bacterial proteins which have enabled life-saving technologies through gene-editing and revolutionized biological research. CRISPR is only one of hundreds of anti-phage immune systems, most of which remain undiscovered. Since antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens is rising, one solution to the crisis is using phages to kill pathogenic bacteria. However, these efforts will require a nuanced understanding of how bacteria can fight their viruses. My project uses a genetic method to mine microbial genomes for previously undiscovered anti-bacteriophage immune systems We have already found multiple novel anti-phage systems with this method and continue to find more. We hypothesize that many of these unique anti-phage immune systems could have valuable applications in research, medicine, and industry
Category
Life Sciences
Mining Bacterial Genome: Identifying Unkown Bacterial Immune Systems
UC South Ballroom
Bacterial viruses, called bacteriophages, constitute a major threat to bacteria, driving a vast evolutionary arms race three billion years in the making. Out of this arms race bacteria have developed numerous types of bacterial immune systems varying in levels of complexity. The most notable bacterial immune system, CRISPR-Cas, is a suite of bacterial proteins which have enabled life-saving technologies through gene-editing and revolutionized biological research. CRISPR is only one of hundreds of anti-phage immune systems, most of which remain undiscovered. Since antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens is rising, one solution to the crisis is using phages to kill pathogenic bacteria. However, these efforts will require a nuanced understanding of how bacteria can fight their viruses. My project uses a genetic method to mine microbial genomes for previously undiscovered anti-bacteriophage immune systems We have already found multiple novel anti-phage systems with this method and continue to find more. We hypothesize that many of these unique anti-phage immune systems could have valuable applications in research, medicine, and industry