A term used as an attempt to capture the stage during the phage eclipse when genome replication and potentially recombination between coinfecting phage genomes has begun, but completion of the assembly of at least one virion particle has not-yet occurred.
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The eclipse thus can be differentiated into a pre-reproductive (a.k.a., juvenile) stage that is followed by a tentatively reproductive (i.e., DNA replication begins) as well as sexual, a.k.a., adolescent stage.
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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