Q.Describe the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage.

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The question asks for a description of the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage. …

The lytic cycle begins when a bacteriophage attaches to the surface of a susceptible host bacterium using its tail fibres, and then injects its nucleic acid into the cell, leaving its empty protein coat outside. Once inside, the phage DNA immediately takes over the host cell's own biochemical machinery, redirecting it to replicate copies of the phage DNA and to manufacture the protein components needed for new phage particles - new heads, tails and tail fibres. These newly made components then self-assemble inside the host cell into complete new phage particles. Once a substantial number of new phages have been assembled, the phage-encoded enzyme lysozyme breaks down the host bacterium's cell wall from within; unable to maintain its structure, the host cell bursts open in a process called lysis, releasing all of the newly assembled phage particles into the surrounding medium. The total number of new phages released from one such …

• Omitting lysozyme's specific role in breaking down the cell wall, and simply saying the cell 'bursts' without explaining why. …