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Cycle
 

Information About

Lytic





DESCRIPTION

The lytic cycle is a three-stage process.


Penetration

To infect a cell, a virus must first enter the cell through the Plasma Membrane and (if present) the cell wall. Viruses do so by either attaching to a receptor on the cell's surface, entering through a cellular wound, or by simple mechanical force. The virus then releases its genetic material (either single- or double-stranded DNA or RNA ) into the cell.


Biosynthesis

The virus' nucleic acid uses the host cell’s machinery to make large amounts of viral components. In the case of DNA viruses, the DNA Transcribes itself into Messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that are then used to direct the cell's ribosomes. In Retrovirus es (which inject an RNA strand), a unique enzyme called Reverse Transcriptase transcribes the viral RNA into DNA, which is then transcribed again into mRNA.


Maturation and lysis

After many copies of viral components are made, they are assembled into complete viruses. The cell eventually becomes filled with viruses (typically 100-200) and bursts, or Lyses ; thus giving the lytic cycle its name. The new viruses are then free to infect other cells.