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Is it advantageous for an E.coli cell to be infected with the bacteriophage lambda?

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Final answer:

For biotechnological purposes, the infection of E.coli with bacteriophage lambda is advantageous, particularly in constructing genomic libraries. However, the infection can lead to cell lysis or a lysogenic state that could be harmful to the E.coli itself.

Step-by-step explanation:

From a human usage perspective, E.coli infection by bacteriophage lambda can be advantageous for creating genomic libraries with larger DNA fragments. However, infection typically leads to lysis or altered bacterial behavior, which may not be advantageous for the bacterial cell itself. Bacteriophage lambda infection of E.coli affords an intriguing platform for biotechnological applications, like genomic libraries.

Genomes are integrated into phage vectors which can accommodate larger DNA fragments than plasmid vectors, hence facilitating extensive genetic studies with fewer samples. In this context, transfection using lambda phage vectors ensures efficient introduction of foreign DNA for research purposes. However, from the bacterium's standpoint, there are trade-offs. Lambda can enter either a lytic or a lysogenic cycle.

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