∞ generated and posted on 2023.05.20 ∞
Gaining by phages of access to lower layers of bacteria within biofilms by means especially of phage-induced lysis of bacteria found on biofilm surfaces.
| Active Penetration is the idea that phages, by lysing bacteria, can increase the exposure to phages of underlying layers of biofilm bacteria. |
As bacterial biofilms consist of layers of bacteria piled up upon each other, for phages to reach lower layers of bacteria – that is, penetrate into biofilms – upper layers of bacteria must be removed.
This presumably is accomplished in the course of phage-induced lysis of those upper layers of bacteria, resulting in either the release of virions directly to those lower layers of bacteria or instead allowing other virions to gain access to those lower layers from overlying fluids.
Next | Previous phage therapy-related terms: Active Treatment | Active Infection.
See Google Scholar for References.