P. acnes phage life cycle. The phage first attaches to a receptor present on the surface of the bacterium. Once attached, the phage injects its DNA. The two leftmost phages still have their DNA packed in their head, as visualized as small strands, while the third, rightmost, phage has injected its DNA, and thus the head is deformed during the preparation for electron microscopy. The phage replicates inside its host and eventually produces a holin and a lysin to cause lysis of the bacterium and thus the release of all its content, including mature bacteriophages ready to infect new bacteria. The figure is adapted from [32].
