Lab Report: 14 Bacteriophage Specificity 1. What was the purpose of this exercise?
Discipline: Biology (and other Life Sciences)
Type of Paper: Question-Answer
Academic Level: Undergrad. (yrs 3-4)
Paper Format: APA
Pages: 1
Words: 275
Question
Lab Report: 14
Bacteriophage Specificity 1. What was the purpose of this exercise? 2.
Complete the following table with your observations: Lysis (yes/no) Name
of the bacterium S. Aureus (+) Yes Yes E. Coli (-) No Ent. Aerogenes
(-) 3. How do you know if bacteriophage infected the bacteria? You can
see a plaque. 4. Why didn't the bacteriophage infect all three bacteria?
flest Cell specificity What is the explanation for bacteriophage
specificity when it comes to infecting specific bacterium? wiceptors
Expert Answer
1. Purpose of the exercise: To test the different specificity of bacteriophage towards different species of bacteria
3. The fact that bacteriophage infected the bacteria can be checked by observing lysed bacterial cells and viral plaques under microscope.
4. Bacteriophage will only infect those bacteria for which it is specific. Host cell specificity is the reason for differential infection.
5. Bacteriophage recognizes specific cell surface receptors which are present on certain bacteria. Bacteria which do not have these receptors will not be infected by bacteriophage.