phage

4 definitions found

phage - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  bacteriophage \bacteriophage\ n. sing. & pl.
     a virus which infects bacteria; -- also colloquially called
     phage in laboratory jargon.
  
     Note: Bacteriophages are of many varieties, generally
           specific for one or a narrow range of bacterial
           species, and almost every bacterium is susceptible to
           at least one bacteriophage. They may have DNA or RNA as
           their genetic component. Certain types of
           bacteriophage, called
  
     temperate bacteriophage, may infect but not kill their host
        bacteria, residing in and replicating either as a plasmid
        or integrated into the host genome. Under certain
        conditions, a resident temperate phage may become induced
        to multiply rapidly and vegetatively, killing and lysing
        its host bacterium, and producing multiple progeny. The
        lambda phage of Eschericia coli, much studied in
        biochemical and genetic research, is of the temperate
        type.
        [PJC] bacteriophagic

phage - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  phage
      n 1: a virus that is parasitic (reproduces itself) in bacteria;
           "phage uses the bacterium's machinery and energy to produce
           more phage until the bacterium is destroyed and phage is
           released to invade surrounding bacteria" [syn:
           bacteriophage, phage]

phage - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  phage
  
     A program that modifies other programs or databases in
     unauthorised ways; especially one that propagates a virus or
     Trojan horse.  See also worm, mockingbird.  The
     analogy, of course, is with phage viruses in biology.
  
     [Jargon File]
  

phage - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  phage
   n.
  
     A program that modifies other programs or databases in unauthorized
     ways; esp. one that propagates a virus or Trojan horse. See also
     worm, mockingbird. The analogy, of course, is with phage viruses
     in biology.