Abstract
Viruses that grow on bacteria are termed bacteriophages; they contain no metabolic apparatus of their own and are unable to multiply in the absence of a sensitive host. Coliphages are bacteriophages whose host-range is restricted to the bacterium Escherichia coli. In many ways, bacterial viruses can be considered as transmissible extrachromosomal genetic elements (Chapter 4) that have gained the ability of elaborating a proteinaceous coat as well as killing their susceptible host. The complexity of bacteriophages varies greatly, approximately in proportion to the size of their genomes. Nevertheless, they are nothing more than a (lethal) replicon — a group of genes (present in the phage head either as DNA or RNA) able to replicate only in a permissive bacterial host. The protein coat acts as a more-or-less passive vehicle for transport of the viral genetic material. There are two main types of coliphages: virulent phages that multiply within the susceptible host, giving rise to progeny phage upon cell lysis and death; and temperate phages which can either enter this lytic cycle, or lysogenise the cell, undergoing controlled replication within the cell without lysis.
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© 1982 Robert E. Glass
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Glass, R.E. (1982). Bacteriophages. In: Gene Function. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6689-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6689-8_5
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