Experimental and Structural Approaches to ssRNA Phage Biology

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editor

Prasanth Manohar

Texas A&M University

<p>Dr. Prasanth Manohar is a microbiologist and phage biologist whose research focuses on bacteriophage biology, particularly single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) phages, phage lysis systems, and phage-host interactions. With more than a decade of experience in microbiology, virology, and antimicrobial discovery, his work integrates fundamental phage biology with translational approaches to address clinically relevant bacterial infections. His research investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying phage-mediated bacterial lysis, including single-gene lysis systems in ssRNA phages and lysis modules in double-stranded DNA phages. He also employs computational methods to identify and functionally characterize phage lysis genes. His broader research interests center on advancing the understanding of bacteriophage biology and translating mechanistic insights into innovative strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance. He actively promotes interdisciplinary collaborations that bridge structural biology, molecular microbiology, computational biology, and clinically relevant applications.</p>

Collection Overview

The proposed collection, would feature novel techniques and mechanistic discoveries that advance the study of ssRNA phages. Interest in ssRNA phages has grown fast because of their ecological significance, genetic simplicity, rapid evolution, and prospective uses in synthetic biology, antibiotic research, and RNA-based biotechnology. Recent breakthroughs in metagenomics, cryo-electron microscopy, computational modeling, and reverse genetics have revealed an unanticipated diversity of ssRNA phages, as well as novel phage-host interaction mechanisms.

Despite these advances, the field continues to face several challenges, including difficulties in culturing environmental ssRNA phages, limited experimental systems, incomplete structural characterization of infection and lysis mechanisms, and a lack of standardized protocols for isolation, genome engineering, and functional analyses. Furthermore, many newly discovered ssRNA phages remain poorly understood at the molecular and structural levels.

This collection intends to provide a platform for visualizing experimental protocols, structural research, and novel methodological approaches to ssRNA phage biology. Phage isolation, host interaction research, cryo-EM procedures, reverse genetics, RNA sequencing, computational modeling, single-gene lysis systems, and synthetic biology applications are some of the possible topics.

The collection will help the scientific community by encouraging reproducible methods, boosting interdisciplinary collaboration, and hastening the adoption of improved tools for ssRNA phage research. This collection, which combines experimental and structural perspectives, will be an invaluable resource for microbiologists, structural biologists, virologists, and biotechnology researchers working in the rapidly increasing field of RNA phage biology.