Justin Mathews

Chapter 18
A Phage starts the infection process by attaching to the hose cell and injects its DNA, the DNA then
circularizes. This can lead to either a lytic or lysogenic cycle. In a lysogenic cycle the phage DNA goes
into the the bacterial chromosome, becoming a prophage. The bacterium goes on reproducing normally
copying and transferring the prophage to its daughter cells. Many cell divisions produce a colony of
bacteria infected with prophage. Sometimes the prophage will exit the bacterial chromosome, and thus
initiating a lytic cycle. Once again the phage DNA circularizes and new phage DNA and proteins are
synthesized and assembled into phages. Next the cell lyses, and releases phages, and this makes the
cycle go on.
A retro virus is a RNA virus that uses the reverse transcriptase enzyme, and when it is transcripted there
is a higher chance of mutations in this vs. DNA viruses, this is how there is no one vaccine for viruses
like influenza, because of the constant mutations. HIV infects a cell, and has a similar cycle to a lytic
cycle, but the cell does not lyse or become burst open to release more phages, instead it just releases the
phages to take control of the T-Helper cells, thus rendering the Immune system useless this is how
people with HIV and AIDS get killed with diseases people without it wouldn't.