🔬 Insertion

Process by which a prophage becomes integrated within a bacterium's chromosome.

by Stephen T. Abedon Ph.D. Steve Abedon, Ph.D., has taught well over 100 individual classes and ~10 individual courses (including introductory biology, microbiology, physiology, biochemistry, etc.) over his 30+ years as a college professor. He has over 150 publications, including multiple monographs, and is ranked in the top 1 or 2 percent among researchers of all disciplines worldwide. His research focuses on bacteriophage biology and phage therapy. (abedon.1@osu.edu)

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About this entry: Insertion is one of a growing set of phage biology and phage therapy terms defined here. For more phage terms, see Abedon, S.T. (2025). Phage Therapy Annotated Glossary. Preprints.org. 10.20944/preprints202508.0347.v1
To share a particular section, use the 🔗 link beside its heading, which copies a web address that opens the page right there. To cite this page: Abedon, S.T. (2026). Phage Terms. terms.phage.org.  ·  DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20173633

phage.org/terms/insertion.html  ·  Abedon’s Books  ·  DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20173633

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Insertion: Process by which a prophage becomes integrated within a bacterium's chromosome.

Discussion

Contrast with plasmid prophage and see also attachment site. See also the concept of insertion mutations and insertion mutagenesis.

It is at the point of insertion that a temperate phage genome becomes a prophage (assuming a requirement for insertion for reduction to lysogeny) and though temperate phages can have preferred insertion sites, often insertion into additional sites is possible.

How to cite this page

Abedon, S.T. (2026). Phage Terms. https://terms.phage.org  ·  10.5281/zenodo.20173633

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