Spiteful Weapons and the Environmental Dependence of Phage
Published in Emory Theses and Dissertations (ETD), 2020
Undergraduate Honors Thesis.
Abstract: The assembly of bacteria-phage communities occurs in an environmental context. To delineate how temperate phage-bacteria dynamics are affected by their environment, phage infection parameters were estimated in varying nutrient and temperature conditions. Models of lysogen versus phage-sensitive bacterial competitions in these same conditions were then formed from the parameter estimates and were used to predict competition outcomes. The empirical models accurately described qualitative competition outcomes and predicted a phage-resistant subpopulation in one of the putatively phage-sensitive strains. Moreover, this study shows environmentally dependent phage-bacteria dynamics can direct competition outcomes when given enough time before the bacterial populations reach stationary phase.
Recommended citation: Worthy, A. (2020) Spiteful Weapons and the Environmental Dependence of Phage. Honors Thesis. Emory University. Available at: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/bv73c164v?locale=en.
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