EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Bacteriophages, also known as phages, are viruses that infect and replicate only in bacterial cells. They are ubiquitous in the environment and are recognized as the most abundant biological agent on earth.

Detailed explanation-2: -More common, but less understood, are cases of viruses infecting bacteria known as bacteriophages, or phages.

Detailed explanation-3: -A bacteriophage, or phage for short, is a virus that infects bacteria. Like other types of viruses, bacteriophages vary a lot in their shape and genetic material.

Detailed explanation-4: -To infect bacteria, most bacteriophages employ a ‘tail’ that stabs and pierces the bacterium’s membrane to allow the virus’s genetic material to pass through. The most sophisticated tails consist of a contractile sheath surrounding a tube akin to a stretched coil spring at the nanoscale.

Detailed explanation-5: -There are two primary types of bacteriophages: lytic bacteriophages and temperate bacteriophages. Bacteriophages that replicate through the lytic life cycle are called lytic bacteriophages, and are so named because they lyse the host bacterium as a normal part of their life cycle.