Enzyme employed by phages to break down the cell wall of infected bacteria towards release of intracellular phage particles to the extracellular milieu.
Lysins are more formally known as endolysins and the timing of their function is controlled by the action of holin proteins.
Endolysins can be differentiated into a number of different types depending on where on the bacterial cell wall they cleave, one variant of which can be described as a lysozyme.
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