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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

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