# Investigating the role of phage in the gut microbiome

> **NIH NIH R35** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2024 · $381,278

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
The gut microbiome is linked to human health through diverse mechanisms including immune system
priming, colonization resistance, and metabolic functions. Bacteriophages (phages) are a numerically
dominant component of this microbial community, but remain challenging to study especially in
microbially rich and diverse contexts such as the conventionally-colonized mammalian gut. The
overarching research goal of my laboratory is to characterize the causal role of phages in the gut
microbiome. In this project, we propose to study two areas in which temperate and virulent phage can
influence the gut microbiota. In the first area, we will characterize the relationship between temperate
phage l and its cognate bacteria, E. coli, in the conventionally-colonized murine gut. We will then study
the significance of specific prophage-encoded functions that are competitively advantageous within the
gut microbiome. In the second area, we will develop a methodology to deplete virulent phage from the
murine gut and investigate their significance to the gut microbiome, metabolome, and mammalian host
during dietary and antibiotic disruption. The completion of this project will produce important insight into
the mechanisms by which phage can impact the gut microbiome.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10885135
- **Project number:** 5R35GM147484-03
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Bryan Boen Hsu
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $381,278
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-20 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10885135

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10885135, Investigating the role of phage in the gut microbiome (5R35GM147484-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10885135. Licensed CC0.

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