TYPE: Virus
FAVORITE HANGOUT:Bacteria
LIKES:Invading bacterial cells and instructing them to make new phages.
MODUS OPERANDI: The phage attaches to a bacterium's cell wall via its "tails" (shown in green) and injects its genes into the bacterium through its syringe-like blue column. It commandeers the bacterium's cellular machinery to make new phages. The cell eventually becomes so crowded, it bursts, releasing the new phages that head off to invade other cells.
© Dennis Kunkel Microscopy
