Virofago

thumb|upright=1.8| (A) When the host cell is only infected by a giant virus, the latter establishes a cytoplasmic virus factory to replicate and generates new virions, and the host cell is most likely [[lysed at the end of its replication cycle.(B) When the host cell is co-infected with a giant virus and its virophage, the latter parasitizes the giant virus's virus factory. The presence of virophages could seriously impact the infectivity of the giant virus by decreasing its replication efficiency and increasing the survival of the host cell.(C) When the giant virus genome is parasitized by a