NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Bacteriophages or phages are the most abundant organisms in the biosphere and they are a ubiquitous feature of prokaryotic existence. A bacteriophage is a virus which infects a bacterium.

Detailed explanation-2: -Bacteria can be infected by tiny viruses called bacteriophages (phages). Bacteriophages are so small they do not even have a single cell, but are instead just a piece of DNA surrounded by a protein coat.

Detailed explanation-3: -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-4: -Entry: The phage injects its double-stranded DNA genome into the cytoplasm of the bacterium.

Detailed explanation-5: -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. They are extremely diverse in size, morphology, and genomic organization [1][2][3].