T4 bacteriophages injects its DNA into the cell to do a genetic takeover of the bacterium.

Adolf Mayer discovered that he could transmit the disease from plan to plant by rubbing sap extracted from diseased leaves onto healthy plants. He concluded that the disease was caused by unusually small bacteria that could not be seen with the microscope. Some viruses are smaller than a ribosome. Viral genomes may consist of double stranded DNA, single-stranded DNA, double-stranded RNA, or single-stranded RNA. The smallest viruses have only four genes, while the larges have several hundred. Capsid- the protein shell enclosing the viral genome. o Capsid may be rod-shaped, polyhedral, or more complex in shape. o Built from a large number of protein subunits called capsomeres. Viral envelopes are derived from the membrane of the host cell and contain host cell phospholipids and membrane proteins. They also contain proteins and glycoproteins of viral origin. The three T-even phases turned out to be very similar in structure. Attached to the head is a protein tail piece with fibers that the phages use to attach to a bacterium. Viruses can reproduce only within a host cell and lack metabolic enzymes, robosomes, and other equipment for making proteins. Bacteria infection in eukaryotes is usually limited to particular tissues. T-even phages use their tail apparatus to inject DNA into a bacterium. The host provides the nucleotides for making viral nucleic acids, as wel as enzymes, ribosomes, tRNAs, amino acid, ATP, and others things needed for making viral proteins. RNA viruses use special virus-encoded polymerases that can use RNA as a template. Virulent phage: phage that reproduces only by a lytic cycle. Restriction enzymes- cut up phage DNA when it enters the cell. Temperate phage- phages capable of using both modes of reducing within a bacterium.