NSF Award
0333273
The single goal of this project is to sequence and annotate the genome of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. The intellectual merit of this project will link two seemingly unrelated processes, bacterial predation and morphogenesis. One genus, Bdellovibrio, is especially unique among all the differentiating species because it undergoes morphogenetic changes as a part of a life-cycle that is dependent upon attacking and invading gram negative bacteria for food. Every Bdellovibrio isolated to date has been obligatorily dependent (host dependent - HD) upon a host (prey) cell for growth to carry out its life cycle (attack phase cell to filamentous cell to fragmenting filament/lysis to attack phase). One unique strain (W) has the ability to form environmentally resistant cysts which may have practical value. To provide the framework for the systematic and detailed investigation of these phenomena, high throughput DNA sequencing and subsequent annotation of the genome of B. bacteriovoris strain W will be carried out. Closure and annotation will be carried out in the PI's laboratory. The broader impact of this research has implications in training. The sequence database will allow this group and collaborators (John Tudor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and Mark Martin at Occidental College in Los Angeles) to exploit the information to design training projects for undergraduate students. Using summer workshops, 4 undergraduates and their mentors will be trained in the techniques of sequence closure and annotation. A web-based bioinformatics suite will allow the trainees to return to their home institutions and continue projects begun during the workshops.
