Description of a phage infection that is not reductive and particularly not lysogenic.
A phage infection is immediately productive if it proceeds from adsorption to phage progeny production and release with no intervening lysogenic cycle. If properly qualified, the term can also be used to imply an absence prior to initiation of the productive infection proper of pseudolysogen formation.
This term exists especially as a means of expressing that not just lytic but also chronically released phages can be contrasted between temperate versus non-temperate phages. In addition, for temperate phages their individual infections can be contrasted between those that go on to form lysogens (reductive) versus those that bypass lysogeny to instead display productive infections, that is, immediately productive infections.
As variations on this theme, see also obligately productive cycle, obligately productive infection, obligately productive phage, obligately chronic infection, obligately chronic phage, obligately lytic infection, and obligately lytic phage.
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