Title: Exploring DNA Master

Date: 16 January 2019

Rationale: The purpose of this lab was to explore DNA Master and begin the process of learning how to annotate phage genomes. With the skills needed to navigate and use DNA Master, many different conclusions can be drawn from the output including protein function, nucleotide sequence, and more.

Tools:

• Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet
• DNA Master Software

Procedure: A presentation on a specific bacterial infection treatment by means of phage therapy was done before installing and running DNA Master for the first time. Due to technical difficulties, DNA Master did not run perfectly the first time. The program was uninstalled and reinstalled, as well as restarted multiple times to ensure that all necessary updates were completed and the necessary procedures could be run. Finally, after a reinstalling of the program,DNA Master began to run reliably. Once the program was running, the FastA file for bacteriophage Elesar was downloaded and run by the program. Once the FastA displayed the nucleotide sequence for the phage, an auto-annotation was selected and run. A BLAST was unable to be completed at the time of writing.

Observations/Conclusions:

• Elesar yielded 42,954 nucleotides and 67 possible genes
• 66 of the recognized possible genes were classified as ORF’s (open reading frames) while the one remaining feature was classified as “RNA”
• The program lists all of the recognized features and color codes them as to distinguish whether or not it is a forward or reverse reading frame
• Below is a screenshot of the listed genes that DNA Master recognized
• 

• A conclusion that can be made about this lab is that DNA Master has many different features and potential methods to map out and recognize characteristics of a genome, once the necessary skills are learned to navigate the program.

Next Steps: 

• The next step after learning how to use DNA Master is to analyze bacteriophage NapoleonB in order to discover its sequence and protein function.
• Continue to monitor and troubleshoot the DNA Master program for any future problems.