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P.28 bottom paragraph: "Latent period (τ, η): The latent period is the time between injection of a viral genome into the cell and the lysis of the host cell. The processes that occur during the latent period include (i) translocation of viral genetic material from the periplasm into the cytoplasm (ii) replication of genetic material and production of virus particle components (iii) packaging of viral genomes into viral heads (iv) disruption of the cell surface and release of viral progeny. It is worthwhile to consider a few key features of the latent period, τ. The appearance of intact virus particles, that is, packaged with viral genomes, represents the moment at which cellular lysis would lead to the potential continuation of a viral infection. This period, τe, is termed the eclipse period-it is less than the latent period. The total latent period varies significantly among virus-host systems. For example, when phages T4 and λ, infect E. coli, they can exhibit latent periods as fast as 20 minutes and 50 minutes, respectively (primary source). In contrast, algal viruses that infect Chlorella and Phaeocysti pouchetii take 3–4 hours and 12–18 hours, respectively (BNID 113064). Such long latent periods are not restricted only to algal viruses. The latent period of cyanoviruses infecting ubiquitous marine cyanobacteria can be on the same scale, for example, 9–17 hours for cyanophage S-BBS1 infecting Synechococcus BBCl (BNID 113065), and 8 hours for podovirus P-SSP7 infecting Prochlorococcus MED4 (BNID 113065). The nearly two orders of magnitude variation in latent period raises the question, what determines the time between adsorption and lysis for viruses of microbes?" |