lysogeny, type of life cycle that takes place when a bacteriophage infects certain types of bacteria. In this process, the genome (the collection of genes in the nucleic acid core of a virus) of the bacteriophage stably integrates into the chromosome of the host bacterium and replicates in concert with it.

What is lysogenic state?

The λ regulatory circuitry can also exist in a highly stable regulatory state, the lysogenic state, in which the viral genome is inserted into the genome of the bacterial host and phage lytic genes are repressed by the action of the CI repressor.

What role does lysogeny play in bacterial genetics?

Lysogeny protects a virus from environmental factors (e.g., inactivation by UV sunlight or proteolytic digestion) that may damage the viral capsid or nucleic acid while on occasion conferring “immunity” to the host via gene expression that prevents coinfection by other viruses (Jiang and Paul, 1996).