Viruses are infecting microbes covered by a protein coat and consist only nucleic acid.
They are ultramicroscopic either living or non living.
These are inactive in nature, they become active into the host body and reproduce using host machinery.
Reproduction in Viruses:
Viruses can reproduce using two processes: Lysogenic cycle and lytic cycle.
Lytic cycle:
It isalso known as severe infection, an infecting phage kills the host organism to create a large number of progeny. The phage genome synthesizes initial proteins which break down the host DNA shortly after injection in to host cell, allowing the phage to seize control of a host machinery.
The phage then exploits the host cell to generate new phage particles by synthesizing the remaining proteins.
The new genetic information is packed into the head, and daughter phage are created independently from the heads and sheaths. During this phase, phage enzymes gradually weaken the host cells until they rupture, releasing phage .
Phage attachment, bacterial cell entrance, and phage replication are the steps involved. The emergence of a novel phage.
Lysogenic cycle:
It isalso known as temperate or semi infection.
They do not destroy the host cell and instead uses it as a safe haven where it can rest.
After the injection of bacteriophage DNA in the host cell, it uses phage-encoded integrases to integrate itself on the host genome, resulting in a prophage.
Prophage is then reproduced passively alongside the host genome for as long as the host split happens without producing the proteins necessary to generate children. Because the phage gene is usually quite tiny, the microbial hosts are usually unaffected by this procedure.