BRAINCAKEDNA Virus Lytic Pathway
In the lytic pathway, a virus replicates straight after infection and the host cell is destroyed. The T4 bacteriophage, which infects E. coli, always follows this route (it is a virulent phage), and lambda phage follows it after induction.
The stages for a DNA phage are:
1. Attachment: tail fibres bind to specific receptor proteins on the bacterial cell wall.
2. Injection: the tail sheath contracts and the phage DNA is injected through the wall and membrane. The empty capsid stays outside.
3. Takeover: early viral genes are transcribed and translated by the host. Their products stop the host making its own proteins, and in T4 an enzyme breaks down the host DNA, releasing nucleotides for the virus to use.
Sign in free to see the rest of this lesson, the R.E.C.I.P.E. recall steps and the quiz
BrainCake is free. Make an account in seconds and pick up where this page stops.
Key terms in this lesson
- lysozyme
- An enzyme, sometimes made by a lytic phage, that breaks down the peptidoglycan of a bacterial cell wall, causing the cell to lyse.
More in Prokaryotic Cells
- RNA Retroviruses
- Viral Reproduction
- Virus Life Cycle
- DNA Virus Latency
- RNA Virus Replication
- Positive ssRNA Viruses
- Negative ssRNA Viruses
- Retrovirus Replication
All 31 lessons in Prokaryotic Cells · All Edexcel AS-level Biology topics