Introduction The cultivation and enumeration of a bacteriophage is a vital component of microbiology. Bacteriophages are used for a number of scientific applications, including the decontamination of food products, human therapy, and much more, thus it is critical to determine the concentration of the bacteriophage in a solution. Doing so allows scientists to determine bacteriophage potency, side effects, and minimal effective doses for clinical applications (Andersen et al., 2011). This experiment allows scientists to estimate the number of bacteria present in a tube of T2 bacteriophage which will infect Escherichia coli strain B (E. coli). The results can be used to determine how effective the T2 bacteriophage is in halting the growth of this virus, thus assisting in treating cases of E. coli and preventing E. coli growth on various foods. Bacteriophages are viruses which infect bacteria.
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In the 1920s and 1930s, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union began to utilize phages to treat bacterial infections, realizing that they had the potential to kill harmful viruses. Though the use of bacteriophages to treat infections has diminished since the creation of antibiotics, antibiotic resistant illnesses are causing scientists to begin reexamining the potential medical applications for phages. In addition to their usefulness in the healthcare industry, bacteriophages are also known for their ability to kill pathogens on foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Finally, phages may also assist in ending the threat of bioterrorism in the world, as scientists have begun to discover some which destroy harmful strains of anthrax (Black & Black, 2015). Overall, bacteriophages are highly useful, and their many applications should be studied in greater detail in order to increase their effectiveness in the world today. In order to successfully perform this experiment, one must first become aware of a few scientific terms related to the procedure, beginning with viruses. Viruses are infectious agents containing a nucleic acid core and a protein coat with no nucleus or organelles. They appear to be living, and yet they are not alive because they can only replicate upon inhabiting a host cell. In this experiment, the virus is the T2 bacteriophage, while the E. coli is referred to as the host. Hosts are organisms which harbor other organisms such as viruses and pathogens. Viruses reproduce once inside the host (Black & Black, 2015). In the experiment, serial dilutions of the T2 virus are performed in order to determine the titer, or the quantity of a substance necessary to produce a desired reaction. These dilutions are completed in order to dilute a culture before it is transferred to a plate. Known volumes of the culture are plated sequentially, with the culture …show more content…
As explained by the New World Encyclopedia, the lytic cycle is the life cycle of a virus in which “the virus that has entered a cell takes over the cell 's replication mechanism, makes viral DNA and viral proteins, and then lyses (breaks open) the cell, allowing the newly produced viruses to leave the now disintegrated host cell to infect other cells (Lytic cycle, 2008).” The chart below gives a visual representation of the cycle to provide more detail (AP chapter 18, n.d.). The lytic cycle is the main way in which viruses replicate and results in the death of the host cell. Lysogenic cycles may also be present in some cells, although the T2 phages in this bacteria do not contain such cycles. However, all bacteriophage have a lytic cycle, including the T2 phages that were utilized in this
In the 1920s and 1930s, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union began to utilize phages to treat bacterial infections, realizing that they had the potential to kill harmful viruses. Though the use of bacteriophages to treat infections has diminished since the creation of antibiotics, antibiotic resistant illnesses are causing scientists to begin reexamining the potential medical applications for phages. In addition to their usefulness in the healthcare industry, bacteriophages are also known for their ability to kill pathogens on foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Finally, phages may also assist in ending the threat of bioterrorism in the world, as scientists have begun to discover some which destroy harmful strains of anthrax (Black & Black, 2015). Overall, bacteriophages are highly useful, and their many applications should be studied in greater detail in order to increase their effectiveness in the world today. In order to successfully perform this experiment, one must first become aware of a few scientific terms related to the procedure, beginning with viruses. Viruses are infectious agents containing a nucleic acid core and a protein coat with no nucleus or organelles. They appear to be living, and yet they are not alive because they can only replicate upon inhabiting a host cell. In this experiment, the virus is the T2 bacteriophage, while the E. coli is referred to as the host. Hosts are organisms which harbor other organisms such as viruses and pathogens. Viruses reproduce once inside the host (Black & Black, 2015). In the experiment, serial dilutions of the T2 virus are performed in order to determine the titer, or the quantity of a substance necessary to produce a desired reaction. These dilutions are completed in order to dilute a culture before it is transferred to a plate. Known volumes of the culture are plated sequentially, with the culture …show more content…
As explained by the New World Encyclopedia, the lytic cycle is the life cycle of a virus in which “the virus that has entered a cell takes over the cell 's replication mechanism, makes viral DNA and viral proteins, and then lyses (breaks open) the cell, allowing the newly produced viruses to leave the now disintegrated host cell to infect other cells (Lytic cycle, 2008).” The chart below gives a visual representation of the cycle to provide more detail (AP chapter 18, n.d.). The lytic cycle is the main way in which viruses replicate and results in the death of the host cell. Lysogenic cycles may also be present in some cells, although the T2 phages in this bacteria do not contain such cycles. However, all bacteriophage have a lytic cycle, including the T2 phages that were utilized in this