Attempt to capture the stage during the phage eclipse when genome replication and, potentially, recombination between coinfecting phage genomes has begun, but completion of assembly of at least one virus particle has not-yet occurred.
The eclipse can thus be differentiated into a pre-reproductive (a.k.a., juvenile) stage that is followed by a stage that is less than fully reproductive (i.e., DNA replication begins) as well as, if present, sexual (genetic recombination between productively coinfecting phage genomes begins). That is, as equivalent to the adolescent stage seen in humans.
This term is best employed to draw comparisons between phage and, for example, metazoan life cycles, but otherwise is a not terribly useful addition to the more strictly phage literature. See also adult period.
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