Two scientists of Florida State University have shown the
structural and DNA breakdown of a bacteria-invading virus recently.
Kathryn Jones and Elizabeth Stroupe,
both assistant professors in the Department of Biological Science, have
deconstructed a bacteriophage, a type of virus which infects bacteria. This
innovative work will not only be helpful for future researchers ,but also set
up a new mile stone in understanding how a virus infects and impacts bacteria,
also its possible usefulness in agricultural industry too.
Until now, there was little known about
this particular bacteriophage, called the ϕM12 ,which infects a nitrogen-fixing
bacterium called Sinorhizobium
meliloti. Jones focused on the sequencing the DNA of ϕM12 and analyzing its
evolutionary context, while Stroupe looked at its overall physical structure.
Stroupe stated that bateriophage is a
tool to understand the bacterium and no one had thought of sequencing it
before. That tool, Stroupe said, will give scientists more insight into the
basic functions of the ϕM12
bacteriophage. ϕM12
is the first reported bacteriophage to have its particular combination of DNA
sequences and the particular shape of its protein shell. Understanding both the
DNA and the structure, can provide an understanding of the proteins a
bacteriophage produces and how it chooses the bacteria it invades.
This particular case of ϕM12 can also be useful in the future, for
the agriculture community and seed companies. Important crop plants depend on
biological nitrogen fixation by the bacteria that is preyed upon by this phage.
Nitrogen fixation is the process by which abundant nitrogen gas in the
atmosphere is converted to the scarce soil resources ammonia and nitrate.
Jones and Stroupe's work has been divided into two
articles which will be featured on the cover of Virology. One, authored
primarily by Jones and an undergraduate honors thesis student, Tess Brewer,
focuses on the genetic makeup of the virus, while the other by Stroupe and
colleagues, examines the physical structure.
