Notes on using Gordonia as a host from the September 16, 2022 faculty meeting:

Tips and tricks:
Phage isolation success rate can vary; excessive rain may be reducing rates but generally wet weather is helpful
Excessively saturated samples typically do not yield phages
Drainage areas tend to be high-yield areas
Small plaques: decrease top agar concentration (maybe to 0.3%) and reduce amount of cells
Small plaques may also indicate phages that grow better on another strain of Gordonia

Hosts currently used for host range
Gordonia terrae CAG3, G. rubripertincta, G. westfalica, G. lacunae

Collaboration ideas:
Host range tests
Increasing phage isolation yield
Investigating how to improve growth of phages that produce small plaques