Lab 1:  Phage Titration

 

Phage titration (determination of the number of phage particles in a stock) is an important molecular biology technique.  When genetic libraries in phage vectors are screened for positive clones, the plates that are being screened should have approximately 50-500 phage plaques per plate for optimal results.  Less plaques will mean that too many plates will have to be screened, while more plaques will make it difficult to identify individual positive plaques.  Plates in the ideal range are produced by preparing sequential dilutions of phage stocks.

 

A streak plate for single colonies will also be prepared.

 

A few notes on bacteriophage:

 

Bacteriophage are viruses.  This means that they need a suitable host cell to reproduce.  The phage stock you will be titrating contains the bacteriophage lambda cloning vector CH4 with a P. ochraceus EcoRI genomic library cloned in it.  The host cell used to grow the phage will be Escherichia coli strain C600.  Because the binding site for phage lambda is a maltose transport protein, E. coli cells used as a host for lambda must be grown in media containing maltose to induce expression of the lamB gene.

 

Plate cultures of bacteriophage are prepared by combining phage with susceptible host cells in top agar overlays (on top of regular nutrient agar plates).  Top agar preparations contain lower concentrations of agar (7 g/L) than normal solutions used to prepare agar plates (15 g/L).  The low agar concentration allows progeny phage from lysed cells to diffuse through the media and infect neighbouring bacterial cells.  When these cells are lysed as well, a plaque (zone of lysed cells) is produced on the plate.  Because phage can only reproduce in actively growing cells, the size of the plaques produced will depend on how soon the bacteria in the agar reach stationary phase and stop reproducing.  Plaques will stop spreading at this point.

 

Top agar overlays are prepared by mixing phage dilutions with susceptible bacteria, and then adding ~ 3 ml of liquid top agar at 45-50°C.  Overlays are gently mixed, and then poured on top of prewarmed nutrient agar plates.  (Top agar must be maintained at 45-50°C until immediately before use – higher temperatures will kill bacteria, and lower temperatures will allow agar to solidify prematurely.)

 

charging:

 

Bacteriophage particles will sometimes adhere to plastic or glass.  If particles adhere to pipettor tips during transfers, it may lower the amount of phage particles present in the sample transferred to the next dilution blank.  One way to minimize this problem is to “charge” the pipettor by pipetting a sample of the solution up and down in the tip, and discharging the sample back into the original tube.  A fresh sample can then be taken from the same tube, and used to transfer to the next dilution blank.  The coating of phage particles already adhering to the walls of the tip should minimize losses in the second sample.

 

phage mixing:

 

Because top agar is a viscous solution, standard vortexing tends to introduce air bubbles into the media, which may be difficult to distinguish from phage plaques.  To reduce the number of air bubbles resulting from mixing, molten agar solutions should be mixed using an appropriate technique.  The exact technique to use will depend on the type of tube the samples are prepared in. 

 

A technique called “phage mixing” has been developed for samples in standard glass test tubes.  This is done by holding a tube with the cap in the palm of the hand, and the fingers firmly holding on to the tube.  The tube is held at a 45° angle, and rotated in a circle 4-6 times in 1-2 seconds.  (The tube must remain at 45° while being rotated – this will be demonstrated in class.)  This technique allows for a gentle but thorough mixing, with minimal bubbles being introduced.

 

If the samples are prepared in 4 ml plastic tubes with snap-on caps, (like they will be in this lab), the most efficient method of mixing the solutions will be to cap the tubes firmly shut, and gently invert the tubes 4-6 times in 2-3 seconds.  Do not mix for longer than this, as the agar will start to cool and solidify.

 

Dilutions:

 

The phage aliquots provided are 1/10 dilutions (in SM) of an original phage stock that has between 107 and 108 pfu/ml.  (pfu = plaque forming units – these are viable phage particles capable of infecting susceptible host cells).  Calculate the dilutions you will need to get final numbers of 50-500 plaques per plate.  (Note that 0.100 ml of phage solution will be added to the top agar blanks – this is equivalent to an extra 1/10 dilution step.)

 

Dilutions will be done using SM (suspension medium).  This is because phage lambda capsids require Mg2+ ions for stability.  If dilutions are done in dH2O (or especially TE, which contains EDTA, a chelating agent for divalent cations) viable phage counts will be reduced.

 

Materials and Methods

 

Materials

 

1/10 dilution (in SM) of phage stock (CH4 with a P. ochraceus EcoRI genomic library)

 

1 ml E. coli C600

(prepared by growing an overnight culture in 10 ml LB media containing 100 microlitres filter sterilized 20% maltose, then centrifuging and resuspending in 10 ml SM)

 

SM (suspension medium)

NaCl                                       5.8 g

MgSO4 · 7 H2O                        2 g

1 M Tris, pH 7.5                   50 ml

2% (w/v) gelatine solution      5 ml

dH2O                                     to 1 L

 

4 ml plastic Falcon tubes

 

LB top agar (melted in microwave, cooled to 50°C in water bath)

– do not remove from water bath until immediately before use

 

disposable pipettes

 

LB plates (prewarmed in 37°C incubator

)

E. coli C600 stock plate

 

Methods – Part I – Phage dilution

 

1.         Obtain an adequate number of LB plates to allow 1 LB plate for every phage dilution in the range expected to produce valid plate counts.  (Plates are prewarmed in 37°C incubator.)  Properly label the plates, and return them to the 37°C incubator.  (Labels should include group name, date, phage dilution and media used.)  (Top agar will not set as fast on prewarmed LB plates – this will allow phage overlays to be spread more evenly.)

 

2.         Prepare serial 1/10 or 1/100 dilutions of the phage stock using 0.9 ml or 0.99 ml SM blanks.  The first dilution should be a 1/100 dilution to minimize the volume of the original phage stock used.  Dilutions in the range expected to produce valid plate counts should be 1/10 dilutions.  (The exact number of tubes will depend on the number of dilutions you have planned in your dilution scheme.)  Losses of phage can be reduced using “charging” of tips (see introduction).  Dilutions must be performed aseptically.

 

3.         Transfer 0.100 ml of each phage dilution that is to be tested to a 4 ml Falcon tube.

 

4.         Add 0.100 ml of bacterial culture to 0.100 ml phage samples.  Mix briefly, and incubate at room temperature for 15 minutes.

 

5.         Add 3 ml top agar to tubes.  Gently mix the tubes, and immediately pour onto prewarmed LB plates.  Spread overlay across the plate by tilting and rotating the plate until overlay is evenly distributed.  The rim of the sample tube can also be used to spread overlay and pop any bubbles that are present.  Do not attempt to spread overlay further once it starts to set.  This will produce a grainy, opaque overlay, which will make plaques difficult to see.

 

6.         Allow plates to cool until agar has set.  Invert the plates (lid side down), and incubate 12-24 hours at 37°C.  Count your plates, record the results in your lab book, and calculate the concentration of pfu in the original stock.

 

Part II – Streaking for isolated colonies

 

Transfer a single colony from the E. coli C600 stock plate to a properly labelled LB plate, and streak for isolated colonies.  (If you are not familiar with the technique for this, ask a TA for a demonstration.)

 

Study Questions

 

1.        What is the concentration of phage (in pfu/ml) of the original phage stock? 

           (Show your calculation.)

 

2.         Where is the nearest:               eyewash station

fire extinguisher

shower

 

3.         According to MSDS sheets, what precautions must be used with phenol and acrylamide?

 

4.         How much sucrose would be needed to make 100 ml of a 0.1 % solution?

 

5.         How much NaCl (58.44 g/mol) would be needed to make 500 ml of a 2 mM NaCl solution?

 

6.         How would you prepare 100 ml of a 0.2 N NaOH, 1 % SDS solution using the two stock solutions listed below?

 

5 N NaOH

10 % SDS

 

7.         How much 100 mg/ml ampicillin stock should be added to 200 ml of media to give a final concentration of 50 μg/ml?