A bacteriophage population is introduced to a bacterial colony that is in stationary phase with rapidly depleting nutrients. Appraise the following scenarios and select which one would favor long-term survival of the bacteriophage.
Multiple Choice
The bacteriophages infect the remaining viable cells and integrate their genetic material into the host cell genome thereby preserving their genome.
The bacteriophages infect the bacterial cells and go through all stages of development apart from release, thus keeping the progeny phage from entering an inhospitable environment.
The bacteriophages do not infect the bacterial cells since they are dying; they remain inert outside of the cells.
The bacteriophages infect and lyse the viable bacterial cells to increase their number while they have an available host.
