Question

Do bacteriophages lyse bacteria?

Answer 1

Bacteriophages:

1. Viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria.
2. This forces bacterial cellular machinery to replicate and create more copies of the bacteriophage genome.
3. At later stages, the bacterial cell ruptures to release the multiplied copy of the bacteriophage genome(lysis stage).
4. However, in some cases(lysogenic cycle), this genome can integrate into the bacterial genome and remains dormant for some time.
5. Whenever conditions are suitable, the dormant genome becomes active to lyse the cell and get released to infect other bacterial cells.
6. Example- Phi X 174, P1 phage, etc.