How different is the growth according to the biotic potential of a viral population from the growth according to the biotic potential of a bacterial population?
The growth curve according to the biotic potential of virus and bacteria both present a positive exponential pattern. The difference among them is that in each time period bacteria double their population whereas the viral population multiplies dozens or hundreds of times. The viral population growth curve therefore has more intense growth. This happens because bacteria reproduce by binary division, every cell generating two daughter cells, while each virus replicates generating dozens or even hundreds of new viruses.