Viruses That Con Bacteria With Helping Hand

Scientists studying ocean microorganisms have encountered something they have never seen before. A marine virus that cons certain photosynthetic bacteria into letting it come inside because it appears to offer a "helping hand" by bringing resources very like their own to help them acquire phosphorus, a nutrient they are desperately short of. Once inside, the virus uses the host's cellular resources to replicate itself. About ten hours later, the host cells explode and release the viral progeny back into the ocean. Qinglu Zeng and Sallie "Penny" W...

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