Molecular mechanism of genome packaging by dsDNA viruses

We will use a combination of cryo-electron microscopy with Biochemical, Molecular Biology and Microbiology approaches, to understand how viruses package and store their genome. We will focus on several dsDNA viruses including a phage that infects bacteria in the human gut, and several bacterial viruses that serve as excellent model systems for understanding how more complex human and animal viruses assemble. Understanding how viruses package and store their genomic DNA is important not only for informing the development of novel therapies (e.g. against herpes viruses such as HSV1, Epstein-Barr, Cytomegalovirus) but also for understanding how viruses controlling bacterial populations could be tuned for our advantage; for example, how viruses controlling marine bacteria and the carbon cycle could be used to tackle climate change.