Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Honors College at WKU Projects Spring 5-16-2014 The solI ation and Characterization of TiroTheta9, a Novel A4 Mycobacterium Phage Sarah Schrader Western Kentucky University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Schrader, Sarah, "The sI olation and Characterization of TiroTheta9, a Novel A4 Mycobacterium Phage" (2014). Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 483. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/483 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TIROTHETA9, A NOVEL A4 MYCOBACTERIUM PHAGE A Capstone Experience/Thesis Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Science with Honors College Graduate Distinction at Western Kentucky University By Sarah M. Schrader **** Western Kentucky University 2014 CE/T Committee: Approved by Dr. Rodney King, Advisor Dr. Claire Rinehart _____________________ Advisor Dr. Audra Jennings Department of Biology Copyright by Sarah M. Schrader 2014 ABSTRACT Bacteriophages are the most abundant biological entities on earth, yet relatively few have been characterized. In this project, a novel bacteriophage was isolated from the environment, characterized, and compared with others in the databases. Mycobacterium smegmatis, a harmless soil bacterium, served as the host and facilitated the enrichment and recovery of mycobacteriophages. A single phage type was purified to homogeneity and named TiroTheta9 (TT9).