[W/K] :: bacteriophage

  bacteriophage \bacteriophage\ n. sing. & pl.
     a virus which infects bacteria; -- also colloquially called
     phage in laboratory jargon.
  
     Note: Bacteriophages are of many varieties, generally
           specific for one or a narrow range of bacterial
           species, and almost every bacterium is susceptible to
           at least one bacteriophage. They may have DNA or RNA as
           their genetic component. Certain types of
           bacteriophage, called
  
     temperate bacteriophage, may infect but not kill their host
        bacteria, residing in and replicating either as a plasmid
        or integrated into the host genome. Under certain
        conditions, a resident temperate phage may become induced
        to multiply rapidly and vegetatively, killing and lysing
        its host bacterium, and producing multiple progeny. The
        lambda phage of Eschericia coli, much studied in
        biochemical and genetic research, is of the temperate
        type.
        [PJC] bacteriophagic

  bacteriophage
       n : a virus that is parasitic in bacteria; it uses the
           bacterium's machinery and energy to produce more phage
           until the bacterium is destroyed and phage is released to
           invade surrounding bacteria [syn: phage]