Final answer:
Virulent phages, which undergo only the lytic cycle, cannot engage in generalized transduction; therefore, the statement is false. Only temperate phages can perform generalized transduction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that both virulent and temperate phages can serve as generalized transducing phages is false. While temperate phages can engage in generalized transduction during their lysogenic cycle, virulent phages undergo only the lytic cycle, where they replicate and cause the lysis of the host cell without incorporating their DNA into the host genome. In comparison, temperate phages, in their lysogenic cycle, incorporate their DNA into the host's chromosome, forming a prophage which can potentially carry host DNA to another cell upon induction into the lytic cycle.