prophage
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pro·phage
(prō′fāj′)n.
The latent form of a bacteriophage in which the viral genes are incorporated into the bacterial chromosomes without causing disruption of the bacterial cell.
[Short for French probactériophage : Greek pro-, before; see pro-2 + French bactériophage, bacteriophage (bacterio- + Greek -phagos, -phage).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
prophage
(ˈprəʊfeɪdʒ)n
(Microbiology) a virus that exists in a bacterial cell and undergoes division with its host without destroying it. Compare bacteriophage
[C20: by contraction from French probactériophage; see pro-2, bacteriophage]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
pro•phage
(ˈproʊˌfeɪdʒ)n.
a stable, inherited form of bacteriophage in which the genetic material of the virus is integrated into, replicated, and expressed with the genetic material of the bacterial host.
[1950–55; shortening of French probactériophage; see pro-2, bacteriophage]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.