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Lambda phage
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{{short description|Bacteriophage that infects Escherichia coli}} {{context|date=September 2013}} {{virusbox | name = Lambda phage | image_caption = Electron micrograph of a virus particle of lambda phage | image = Lambda EM.jpg | parent = Lambdavirus | species = Lambdavirus lambda }} [[File:Bacteriophage Lambda Structure.jpg|thumb|Bacteriophage Lambda Structure at Atomic Resolution<ref>{{Citation |last=Victor Padilla-Sanchez |title=Bacteriophage Lambda Structure at Atomic Resolution |date=2024-11-25 |url=https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.14219202 |access-date=2024-11-25 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.14219202}}</ref>]] '''Lambda phage''' ('''coliphage Ξ»''', scientific name '''''Lambdavirus lambda''''') is a bacterial virus, or [[bacteriophage]], that infects the bacterial species ''[[Escherichia coli]]'' (''E. coli''). It was discovered by [[Esther Lederberg]] in 1950.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lederberg E | title = Lysogenicity in ''Escherichia coli'' strain K-12 | journal = Microbial Genetics Bulletin | volume = 1 | pages = 5β8 | date = January 1950 }}; followed by {{cite journal | vauthors = Lederberg EM, Lederberg J | title = Genetic Studies of Lysogenicity in Escherichia Coli | journal = Genetics | volume = 38 | issue = 1 | pages = 51β64 | date = January 1953 | pmid = 17247421 | pmc = 1209586 | doi = 10.1093/genetics/38.1.51 }}</ref> The wild type of this virus has a [[Temperate (virology)|temperate]] life cycle that allows it to either reside within the [[genome]] of its host through [[lysogeny]] or enter into a [[lytic]] phase, during which it kills and lyses the cell to produce offspring. Lambda strains, mutated at specific sites, are unable to lysogenize cells; instead, they grow and enter the lytic cycle after superinfecting an already lysogenized cell.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Griffiths A, Miller J, Suzuki D, Lewontin R, Gelbart W |title=An Introduction to Genetic Analysis|date=2000|publisher=W. H. Freeman|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7167-3520-5|edition=7th|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21856/|access-date=19 May 2017}}</ref> The phage particle consists of a head (also known as a [[capsid]]),<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wang C, Zeng J, Wang J | title = Structural basis of bacteriophage lambda capsid maturation | journal = Structure | volume = 30 | issue = 4 | pages = 637β645.e3 | date = April 2022 | pmid = 35026161 | doi = 10.1016/j.str.2021.12.009 | s2cid = 245933331 | doi-access = free }}</ref> a tail, and tail fibers (see image of virus below). The head contains the phage's double-strand linear [[DNA]] genome. During infections, the phage particle recognizes and binds to its host, ''E. coli'', causing DNA in the head of the phage to be ejected through the tail into the cytoplasm of the bacterial cell. Usually, a "[[lytic cycle]]" ensues, where the lambda DNA is replicated and new phage particles are produced within the cell. This is followed by cell [[lysis]], releasing the cell contents, including virions that have been assembled, into the environment. However, under certain conditions, the phage DNA may integrate itself into the host cell chromosome in the [[lysogenic]] pathway. In this state, the Ξ» DNA is called a [[prophage]] and stays resident within the host's [[genome]] without apparent harm to the host. The host is termed a [[lysogen]] when a prophage is present. This prophage may enter the lytic cycle when the lysogen enters a stressed condition.
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