Genome Sequence and Annotation of the B3 Mycobacteriophage Phayeta

Mycobacteriophage Phayeta was extracted from soil near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina using Mycobacterium smegmatis as a host. Annotation of the 68,700 base-pair circularly permuted genome identified 104 predicted protein-encoding genes, 34 of which have functional assignments. This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in Microbiology Resource Announcements: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.00915-2

Genome Annotation of phages Phayeta and Greco Etereo

Phages are viruses that infect specific bacterial cells in order to reproduce. Many of these phages can infect and kill medically relevant bacterial species. As part of SEA-PHAGES, Coastal students have discovered two phages, Phayeta and Greco Etereo, that infect Mycobacterium smegmatis, which is closely related to the causative agent of tuberculosis. For our purposes we are annotating the phages Phayeta and Greco Etereo and comparing them to other previously annotated phages to help determine the function of the genes they contain. By doing this comparative analysis, we are increasing the understanding of phage biology and the roles of individual genes, while observing genome evolution in action. Expanding the knowledge of phage biology is critical for understanding unique biological mechanisms and how they can be medically utilized. Additionally, we may be able to discover the use of specific phages in their employment in therapeutic methods