1. Injection of Genetic Material: The phage injects its genetic material (DNA or RNA) into the bacterium.
2. Replication: The phage's genetic material takes over the bacterium's cellular machinery and uses it to replicate itself, creating new phage components.
3. Assembly: The newly synthesized phage components assemble into new phages.
4. Lysis: The newly assembled phages often cause the bacterial cell to lyse (burst open), releasing the new phages to infect other bacteria.
There are two main types of phage infection cycles:
* Lytic cycle: The phage replicates quickly and destroys the host cell, as described above.
* Lysogenic cycle: The phage's DNA integrates into the host bacterium's genome, becoming a prophage. The prophage can remain dormant for many generations, but it can later enter the lytic cycle and cause lysis.
Overall, after attachment, the bacteriophage's goal is to replicate itself using the host bacterium's resources. This can involve either immediately lysing the cell (lytic cycle) or integrating its genetic material into the host's genome (lysogenic cycle).
