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Structural model at atomic resolution of bacteriophage T4 [1] The structure of a typical myovirus bacteriophage Anatomy and infection cycle of bacteriophage T4.. A bacteriophage (/ b æ k ˈ t ɪər i oʊ f eɪ dʒ /), also known informally as a phage (/ ˈ f eɪ dʒ /), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea.
Bacteriophages are bacterial viruses, evolved to infect bacterial cells. To do that, phages must use characteristic structures at cell surfaces (receptors), and to propagate they need appropriate molecular tools inside the cells. Bacteria are prokaryotes, and their cells differ substantially from eukaryotes, including humans or animals. [113]
Another way of envisioning phage "organismal" ecology is that it is the study of phage adaptations that contribute to phage survival and transmission to new hosts or environments. Phage "organismal" ecology is the most closely aligned of phage ecology disciplines with the classical molecular and molecular genetic analyses of bacteriophage.
The dominant hosts for viruses in the ocean are marine microorganisms, such as bacteria. [14] Bacteriophages are harmless to plants and animals, and are essential to the regulation of marine and freshwater ecosystems [91] are important mortality agents of phytoplankton, the base of the foodchain in aquatic environments. [92]
Biosynthesis – the phage DNA replicates inside the cell, synthesizing new phage DNA and proteins; Maturation – the replicated material assembles into fully formed viral phages (each made up of a head, a tail and tail fibers) Lysis - cell wall or membrane ruptures, disintegrating it and releasing the virus in the process
Several bacteriophages contain toxin genes that become incorporated into the host bacteria genome through infection and render the bacteria toxic. [9] Many well known bacterial toxins are produced from specific strains of the bacteria species that have obtained toxigenicity through lysogenic conversion, pseudolysogeny, or horizontal gene ...
Lambda phage is a non-contractile tailed phage, meaning during an infection event it cannot 'force' its DNA through a bacterial cell membrane. It must instead use an existing pathway to invade the host cell, having evolved the tip of its tail to interact with a specific pore to allow entry of its DNA to the hosts.
Phage typing is based on the specific binding of phages to antigens and receptors on the surface of bacteria and the resulting bacterial lysis or lack thereof. [4] The binding process is known as adsorption. [5] Once a phage adsorbs to the surface of a bacteria, it may undergo either the lytic cycle or the lysogenic cycle. [6]