Bacteriophage as instructional organisms in introductory biology labs

Designing lab exercises for introductory biology classes requires balancing the need for students to obtain results with a desire to provide unpredictable outcomes to better approximate actual research. Bacteriophage are particularly well suited for this as many species are well-understood but, with their hosts, represent a relatively complex interacting system. I have designed a seven week series of lab exercises that allow students to select bacteriophage resistant mutant hosts, isolate and sequence the corresponding receptor gene to identify the specific bacterial mutation from a large number of potential mutations. I also examined the possibility of collecting useful mutant strains for other studies. After two semesters, the lab series is working well with over 90% of students successfully isolating mutant bacteria and about half identifying the specific mutation. Here I discuss the advantages of using bacteriophage in an introductory class, the specific labs in this series and future plans.