Q. 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 as per to the biotic potential of bacteria and virus both present a positive exponential pattern. The difference between them is so, in each time period bacteria double their population while the viral population multiplies dozens or hundreds of times. The viral population growth curve therefore has more intense growth. This happens for the reason that bacteria reproduce by binary division, each cell generating two daughter cells, while each virus replicates generating dozens or even hundreds of new viruses.