Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
5-8-2024 11:00 AM
End Date
5-8-2024 1:00 AM
Advisor
Jono Abshier and Kenneth Stedman
Student Level
Undergraduate
Abstract
Viruses, while often associated with disease, are integral to life and play an important role in the microbiome. Despite their importance in medical research, archaeal viruses, particularly those found in extreme environments, are not widely understood. The Sulfolobus Spindle-Shaped Viruses (SSVs) of the Fuselloviridae family are unique among viruses in that they do not kill their host, the archaeon Sulfolobus Solfataricus in volcanic hot springs, but rather slow its growth, allowing for halo assay assessments.The study focuses on the type virus SSV1, which is predominantly composed of the Major and Minor capsid proteins vp1 and vp3, respectively. Previous study has shown that vp1 is important for capsid formation and infectivity, whereas vp3 is not. However, mutant viruses lacking the vp3 gene showed an abnormal "cigarrillo" shape compared to the wild type (WT) strain, indicating that vp3 is required for optimal capsid development. Signal prediction software revealed that vp3 and vp1 shared a direct repeat sequence, which guided the design of deletion mutations in vp3. The research project uses mutagenesis and halo assay techniques to investigate how a targeted deletion mutation of the direct repeat of the vp3 capsid protein affects SSV1 structure and infectivity.While initial attempts to create deletion mutants of the vp3 capsid protein were unsuccessful, the shared sequences with vp1 provide opportunities for future research. This study advances our understanding of viral archaeal viruses by giving insight on their genomes and possible use in medical research and biotechnology.
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Included in
Mutagenetic Analysis Of The Minor Capsid Protein VP3 Of The Archaeal Fusellovirus SSV1
Viruses, while often associated with disease, are integral to life and play an important role in the microbiome. Despite their importance in medical research, archaeal viruses, particularly those found in extreme environments, are not widely understood. The Sulfolobus Spindle-Shaped Viruses (SSVs) of the Fuselloviridae family are unique among viruses in that they do not kill their host, the archaeon Sulfolobus Solfataricus in volcanic hot springs, but rather slow its growth, allowing for halo assay assessments.The study focuses on the type virus SSV1, which is predominantly composed of the Major and Minor capsid proteins vp1 and vp3, respectively. Previous study has shown that vp1 is important for capsid formation and infectivity, whereas vp3 is not. However, mutant viruses lacking the vp3 gene showed an abnormal "cigarrillo" shape compared to the wild type (WT) strain, indicating that vp3 is required for optimal capsid development. Signal prediction software revealed that vp3 and vp1 shared a direct repeat sequence, which guided the design of deletion mutations in vp3. The research project uses mutagenesis and halo assay techniques to investigate how a targeted deletion mutation of the direct repeat of the vp3 capsid protein affects SSV1 structure and infectivity.While initial attempts to create deletion mutants of the vp3 capsid protein were unsuccessful, the shared sequences with vp1 provide opportunities for future research. This study advances our understanding of viral archaeal viruses by giving insight on their genomes and possible use in medical research and biotechnology.