What do Bacteriophages infect?
A bacteriophage is a virus that infects bacteria. Bacteriophages, first discovered around 1915, have played a unique role in viral biology. They are perhaps the best understood viruses, yet at the same time, their structure can be extraordinarily complex. The use of bacteriophages played a prominent role in elucidating that DNA in viruses can reproduce through two mechanisms: the lytic cycle and the lysogenic cycle.
Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. Typical phages have hollow heads (where the phage DNA or RNA is stored) and tunnel tails, the tips of which have the ability to bind to specific molecules on the surface of their target bacteria. The viral DNA is then injected through the tail into the host cell, where it directs the production of progeny phages often over a hundred in half an hour. These "young" phages burst from the host cell (killing it) and infect more bacteria.
they r viruses that affect bacteria
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