How bacteriophage attach to a host cell

A bacteriophage, also known informally as a phage, is a virus that infects and replicates within Bacteria and Archaea. The term was derived from “bacteria“ and the Greek: φαγεῖν (phagein), “to devour“. Bacteriophages are composed of proteins that encapsulate a DNA or RNA genome, and may have relatively simple or elaborate structures. Their genomes may encode as few as four genes, and as many as hundreds of genes. Phages replicate within the bacterium following the injection of their genome into its cytoplasm. Bacteriophages are among the most common and diverse entities in the biosphere. Bacteriophages are ubiquitous viruses, found wherever bacteria exist. It is estimated there are more than 1031 bacteriophages on the planet, more than every other organism on Earth, including bacteria, combined. #bacteria #VIRUS #bacteriophage #DNA #RNA #genetics #genope #capsid #nucleocapsid