Mini Lab Report 3

Reports must be typed and submitted to Canvas by the start of your next lab (see the “Course Summary” tab for links to all assignment submissions). Lab notes are not part of the mini lab reports and should not be submitted.

This mini lab report should include an introduction of the entire research project, and the methods, results and discussion sections for experiments in labs 8-10.

Introduction Section:

• In this final mini lab report, you will write a draft of the Introduction section for your final lab report. Your Introduction should be 1 page long, double-spaced.
• The introduction provides the context for your report by summarizing what is currently known about your topic and stating the hypotheses or questions you are studying. The introduction should briefly describe the rationale of the work and the approach you took. Use an active voice. When presenting published information, use the present tense (i.e. this is what we currently know). Introductions start with a description of the general background of the problem and focus on the specific problem you are studying.
• Your introduction should address the following:
  • What is the T7 bacteriophage and why is it interesting? Use 2–3 literature sources (at least 2 from the primary literature) for this section and be sure to reference all of your sources.
  • What is the hypothesis or question you are addressing with this project? Write something specific about your mutation!
  • Give a general description of the experiments you used to address your question/hypothesis.

Method Section:

• Report methods used in yeast genomic extraction and transformation and bacteria lysis in lab 8, phage procurement and plaque titer assay in lab 9, and calculating PFU and plaque elution in lab 10.
• Be sure to include:
  • Purpose statement/ brief summary of each experiment
  • Brief description of the yeast genomic extraction
  • The bacteria strain used
  • Transformation (electroporation), recovery and lysis
  • Phage filtration, dilution and plating (titer assay)
  • PFU calculation: including equation used

Result Section:

• Report results of the yeast genomic DNA purity, clearance of the bacteria solution after lysis, and the plates from the plaque titer assay.
• Be sure to include:
  • Purpose statement/ brief summary of each experiment
  • Bacteria lysis:
    • Was the bacteria solution after overnight infection appeared clearer than the control? What does that suggest? Include a picture of the tubes (with figure legend).
  • Plaque titer assay:
    • Include the picture of the plate that you used to calculate the PFU here.
    • Include the number of the plaques on the plate and the PFU of the WT and mutant.
    • If no plaques were obtained, report so.
  • Be careful not to add discussion text here! The results section should include what you observed, not the analysis or explanation of your observation.

Discussion Section:

• Include the following information:
  • Recap what your results were in one or a few sentences.
  • Discuss the virulence (killing efficiency) of the mutant phage/transformation efficiency.
  • If you have no colonies, you should include one or few possible reasons for the absence of plaques and how to improve, if possible.
  • Discuss the conclusion you can draw from the mutant T7 phage based on the data obtained thus far.