Remnants of Viral Sequences in SFSU Exiguobacterium
Isabella Estevez
Department of Biology
Faculty Supervisor: José R. de la Torre
In this study, we investigate the existence and impact of viral infections on Exiguobacterium, providing insights into evolutionary adaptations that help bacteria survive in extreme environments. Using IMG’s tools to screen for viral sequences in existing annotated Exiguobacterium and comparing those results to extracted viruses in our Exiguobacterium strain of interest using VirSorter2, we hypothesize that viral sequences could modulate bacterial metabolisms to encourage their bacterial host to become a more suitable host for itself. Our initial results indicate that there are viral sequences within Exiguobacterium. These findings help explain the evolutionary pressures viruses and bacteria exert on each other.