We are interested in the ecological and evolutionary factors shaping bacteriophage genomes.
We use laboratory work and bioinformatics to understand how these parts influence the virus itself, their bacterial hosts, and the microbiomes they exist in.
We work by analyzing genomes in silico, synthesizing them in vitro, and generally dissecting and reassembling phages - specifically single-stranded DNA phages of the family Microviridae.
Currently, we are mostly focused on studying their interaction with bacterial hosts and competition with other phages, as well as exploring microvirus diversity in humans and elsewhere.
In the future, we hope to leverage knowledge gained from this research into building customized phages for phage therapy and ecosystem engineering.
Our new article is published in Annual Reviews of Virology covering microvirus diversity, biology and taxonomy. A beginner's primer for research into these tiny bacteriophages!
Mehraj and Paul travel to lovely Madison, Wisconsin.
The lab is operational, new people have joined, and science news.