Editing Lambda phage (section)

====Lytic replication====
# For the first few replication cycles, the lambda genome undergoes [[Theta structure|θ replication]] (circle-to-circle).
# This is initiated at the ''ori'' site located in the ''O'' gene. O protein binds the ''ori'' site, and P protein binds the DnaB subunit of the host replication machinery as well as binding O. This effectively commandeers the host DNA polymerase.
# Soon, the phage switches to a [[rolling circle replication]] similar to that used by phage M13. The DNA is nicked and the 3’ end serves as a primer. Note that this does not release single copies of the phage genome but rather one long molecule with many copies of the genome: a [[concatemer]].
# These concatemers are cleaved at their ''cos'' sites as they are packaged. Packaging cannot occur from circular phage DNA, only from concatomeric DNA.