What does lysogenic mean?
Lysogenic describes a relationship between a bacteriophage and its bacterial host in which the viral genetic material is maintained inside the cell without immediately killing it. In the classic lysogenic cycle, phage DNA becomes integrated into the bacterial chromosome as a prophage and is copied whenever the host divides. The viral genome may remain latent for many generations, but it can sometimes be induced to leave the host chromosome and enter the lytic cycle, in which new virus particles are produced and the cell eventually lyses. The term also appears in the expression lysogenic conversion, where a prophage alters a bacterial phenotype. Although the phenomenon was first associated with bacteriophages, lysogeny is also discussed more broadly in relation to viral persistence. In technical writing, lysogenic should not be treated as a general synonym for dormant, since it specifically concerns the stable maintenance of viral genetic material within a host cell.
adjectiveRelating to lysogeny, especially to the state in which a bacteriophage's genetic material is maintained within its bacterial host and replicated with the host's genome.
- Relating to lysogeny or to the lysogenic state of a bacteriophage.
"The researchers identified a lysogenic bacterium carrying an integrated viral genome."
"Lysogenic conversion can give a bacterium a new metabolic characteristic."
"The integrated prophage remains lysogenic for many bacterial generations."
A lysogenic virus can travel with the bacterial chromosome, hiding in plain sight until conditions trigger its switch to the lytic cycle.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lysogenic come from?
Lysogenic was formed within scientific English from Greek lysis, meaning a loosening or dissolution, and the combining element -genic, meaning producing. Greek lysis is also the source of related English forms such as lyse, lytic, and lysozyme. The adjective developed in bacteriology to describe the state in which phage material is carried and replicated within a bacterial host rather than immediately producing new virus and destroying the cell.
Related word forms
How lysogenic is actually used
This is a specialist biological term, used chiefly in microbiology, genetics, and virology. It is not a general synonym for merely dormant or inactive.
Easily confused with lysogenic
A lysogenic virus is maintained within its host without immediately destroying it, whereas a lytic virus replicates in and lyses the host cell.