 The horn like structure is hypothesized to aid in attachment to cells in the natural environment; however, this has not been confirmed.Cyanophages can undergo both the lytic and lysogenic cycles depending on the viruses and their environment.In one study on cyanomyoviruses infecting marine "Synechococcus" sp., the lytic phase was shown to last approximately 17 hours with the average number of viruses produced for each cell that was lysed (burst size) ranging from 328 under high light to 151 under low light.