An Investigation of Milly, a K2 Mycobacteriophage

Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium. These phages are capable of undergoing two life cycles: the lytic cycle and the lysogenic cycle. In the lytic cycle, the phage inserts its DNA into a bacterial host, and in response, the host produces all of the proteins and other materials necessary to create more phage. The phage then multiply exponentially within the bacterial host until the bacterium lyses, releasing thousands of new phage to infect more bacteria. On the other hand, during lysogeny, the bacterium incorporates the phage DNA into its own genome, allowing it to replicate without producing new phage or lysing. Due to the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance, we are interested in taking advantage of the lytic cycle in order to treat bacterial infections, such as tuberculosis, with mycobacteriophage therapies. Using the Bacteriophage Recombineering of Electroporated DNA (BRED) method, we hypothesized that we could delete the gene coding for the repressor protein on Milly\u27s genome, which would prevent Milly from undergoing lysogeny and make it lytic‐only. Here we report a characterization and manipulation of the K2 cluster mycobacteriophage Milly, isolated at Georgia College and State University, which we have determined to be capable of both the lytic and lysogenic phage life cycles. We are in the process of demonstrating the deletion of Milly\u27s repressor gene so that it loses its ability to undergo lysogeny. This way, we can utilize Milly\u27s lytic cycle as a way to infect and kill disease‐causing bacteria