After the single-stranded viral DNA enters the cytoplasm, it serves as a template for the synthesis of a complementary DNA strand. This synthesis is initiated in the intergenic region of the DNA sequence by host RNA polymerase, which synthesizes a short RNA primer on the infecting DNA as template. The host DNA polymerase III then uses this primer to synthesize the full complementary strand of DNA, yielding a double-stranded circle, sometimes called the replicative form (RF) DNA. The complementary strand of the RF is the transcription template for phage coded proteins, especially p2 and p10, which are necessary for further DNA replication.
The p2 protein cleaves the viral strand of the RF DNA, and host DNA polymerase III synthesizes a new viral strand. The old viral strand is displaced as the new one is synthesized. When a circle is complete, the covalently linked p2 cuts the displaced viral strand at the junction between the old and newly synthesized DNA and re-ligates the two ends and liberates p2. RF replicates by this rolling circle mechanism to generate dozens of copies of the RF.
When the concentration of phage proteins has increased, new viral strands are coated by the replication/assembly protein p5 rather than by the complementary DNA strands. The p5 also inhibits translation of p2, so that progeny viral ssDNA production and packaging are in synchrony.