The lytic and the lysogenic cycles are the two methods that bacteriophages reproduce. They both begin with a bacterium that has been infected with bacteriophage DNA.
Lytic:
- The phage DNA reinstructs ribosomes and the bacterium begins producing many bacteriophages.
- The bacterium eventually lyses and releases the bacteriophages into the environment
Lysogenic:
- The phage DNA is incorporated into the bacterium's chromosome.
- The bacterium eventually duplicates this DNA when it undergoes fission, producing two infected daughter cells.
- Eventually, the phage DNA will be read by the bacterium and it will go into the lytic cycle, described above.
To sum it up, the lytic cycle ends the bacterium's life by producing offspring, yet the lysogenic cycle allows for multiple bacteria to divide and eventually undergo the lytic cycle.