Question

What happens during the lytic cycle of a viral infection?

Answer 1

Simply put, the virus uses the host cell to make new viral parts.

Answer 2

Answer:

Lysis of the host cell

Explanation:

A virus must infect a host cell in order to reproduce. The steps that make up this infection process is called the life cycle of the virus. Virus can either kill their host (lytic) or not kill them but are copied along their hosts DNA instead (lysogenic).

In the lytic cycle, the typical virus hijacks its host cell and uses the cell's resources to make a lots of new virions, causing the cell to lyse (burst) and die in the process.

The stages of the viral lytic cycle involves the virus binding to a specific receptor on the host cell and injects its DNA genome into the cytoplasm of its host cell. It hijacks the host cell to replicate, transcibe and translate the necessary viral components. The viral DNA is copied and expressed to make proteins e.g capsid proteins. New viral particle are made separately from the host's DNA. To liberate newly made virions, the host cell wall is disrupted by viral proteins such as lysozyme. This disruption allows water into the cell, making it expand and burst.

During lysis (bursting), hundreds of new virions are released out of the host cell.