Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage

As the most abundant biological entity in the biosphere, bacteriophages play a critical role in shaping the microbial diversity, and thus overall ecosystem health. They are also essential tools in molecular biology, shedding light on fundamental biological concepts. T4 phage, with its complex lifecy...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Levine, Mandara Alexis
Other Authors: Laub, Michael T.
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2024
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/154153
_version_ 1826191673918488576
author Levine, Mandara Alexis
author2 Laub, Michael T.
author_facet Laub, Michael T.
Levine, Mandara Alexis
author_sort Levine, Mandara Alexis
collection MIT
description As the most abundant biological entity in the biosphere, bacteriophages play a critical role in shaping the microbial diversity, and thus overall ecosystem health. They are also essential tools in molecular biology, shedding light on fundamental biological concepts. T4 phage, with its complex lifecycle and genetic content, has been instrumental in many such discoveries. However, many questions regarding gene regulation in T4 phage remain unanswered. In this study, we employ end-enriched RNA-seq (Rend-seq) and ribosome profiling to examine T4 RNA and protein synthesis throughout the course of infection, gaining new insights at the transcriptional, translational, and genomic level. At the transcriptional level, we identified transcript boundaries, novel putative promoters, and new potential cleavage sites for the T4 endoribonuclease RegB. At the translational level, we identified many instances of previously unreported changes in translational efficiency over the course of infection, indicating the presence of intricate and uncharacterized mechanisms of regulation. Collectively, transcriptional and translational controls lead to precisely tuned protein synthesis rates during infection, as exemplified by the phenomenon that components of T4 protein complexes are synthesized according to their stoichiometry— a principle that has been observed in organisms during steady-state growth. Finally, we identified and experimentally validated T4’s 290th gene, 61.-1. Though non-essential to T4 in laboratory conditions, this gene has homologs present in a number of other phage and drastically impacts E. coli growth when ectopically expressed. This study provides insights into T4 phage biology, paving the way for further exploration into molecular biology, virology, and biotechnology; our rich data set can be utilized by future studies to answer a diverse array of inquiries.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T08:59:35Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/154153
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
last_indexed 2024-09-23T08:59:35Z
publishDate 2024
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1541532024-04-17T03:59:16Z Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage Levine, Mandara Alexis Laub, Michael T. Li, Gene-Wei Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Microbiology Graduate Program As the most abundant biological entity in the biosphere, bacteriophages play a critical role in shaping the microbial diversity, and thus overall ecosystem health. They are also essential tools in molecular biology, shedding light on fundamental biological concepts. T4 phage, with its complex lifecycle and genetic content, has been instrumental in many such discoveries. However, many questions regarding gene regulation in T4 phage remain unanswered. In this study, we employ end-enriched RNA-seq (Rend-seq) and ribosome profiling to examine T4 RNA and protein synthesis throughout the course of infection, gaining new insights at the transcriptional, translational, and genomic level. At the transcriptional level, we identified transcript boundaries, novel putative promoters, and new potential cleavage sites for the T4 endoribonuclease RegB. At the translational level, we identified many instances of previously unreported changes in translational efficiency over the course of infection, indicating the presence of intricate and uncharacterized mechanisms of regulation. Collectively, transcriptional and translational controls lead to precisely tuned protein synthesis rates during infection, as exemplified by the phenomenon that components of T4 protein complexes are synthesized according to their stoichiometry— a principle that has been observed in organisms during steady-state growth. Finally, we identified and experimentally validated T4’s 290th gene, 61.-1. Though non-essential to T4 in laboratory conditions, this gene has homologs present in a number of other phage and drastically impacts E. coli growth when ectopically expressed. This study provides insights into T4 phage biology, paving the way for further exploration into molecular biology, virology, and biotechnology; our rich data set can be utilized by future studies to answer a diverse array of inquiries. Ph.D. 2024-04-16T19:04:05Z 2024-04-16T19:04:05Z 2024-02 2024-04-02T18:31:00.729Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/154153 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Levine, Mandara Alexis
Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage
title Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage
title_full Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage
title_fullStr Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage
title_full_unstemmed Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage
title_short Temporal gene expression and regulation in T4 phage
title_sort temporal gene expression and regulation in t4 phage
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/154153
work_keys_str_mv AT levinemandaraalexis temporalgeneexpressionandregulationint4phage