Question

Briefly describe similarities and differences of prophage and provirus.

Answer 1

Prophage: When virus infects a bacterial cell, it releases it's genetic material inside the cell. this genetic material either get integrated with the bacterial genome (Bacteriophage DNA) or remain inside the cell as the extrachromosomal plasmid. The integrated bacteriophage DNA is called the prophase.

Provirus: When virus infects an eukaryotic cell, it releases it's genetic material which get integrated with the host genome. This integrated form is called provirus.

Differences:

Prophage	Provirus
1. It infects bacterial cell.	It infects eukaryotic cell.
2. Viral genome can replicates on its own.	Viral genome will replicate along with host genome. It does not show self replication.
1. It can undergo both lytic cycle.	It undergoes only lysogenic cycle.

Similarities:

In both cases, the viral genome is getting integrated with the host genome.