DNA

Discovery
Frederick Griffith
 10.1 Experiments showed that DNA is the
genetic material

– Frederick Griffith discovered that a “transforming factor”

could be transferred into a bacterial cell
– Disease-causing bacteria were killed by heat
– Harmless bacteria were incubated with heat-killed
bacteria
– Some harmless cells were converted to disease-
causing bacteria, a process called transformation
– The disease-causing characteristic was inherited
by descendants of the transformed cells

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Avery, McCarty, and MacLeod
• Purified DNA and
proteins from the heat-
killed pathogenic bacteria
• Tried to transform live
nonpathogenic bacteria
with each chemical
• Only DNA worked
• After 14 years of
research, Avery and
colleagues announced
that DNA was the genetic
material.
• Their announcement was
greeted with skepticism.
Martha Chase and Alfred Hershey
1953
Head
DNA

Tail
Tail fiber
 What next???

– Hershey and Chase used bacteriophages to show that

DNA is the genetic material
– Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacterial
cells
– Phages were labeled with radioactive sulfur to
detect proteins or radioactive phosphorus to
detect DNA
– Bacteria were infected with either type of labeled
phage to determine which substance was injected
into cells and which remained outside

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 Radioactive Empty
Phage
protein protein shell Radioactivity
in liquid
Bacterium Phage
DNA
DNA

Batch 1
Radioactive
protein Centrifuge

Pellet

1 Mix radioactively 2 Agitate in a blender to 3 Centrifuge the mixture 4 Measure the

labeled phages with separate phages so bacteria form a radioactivity in
bacteria. The phages outside the bacteria pellet at the bottom of the pellet and
infect the bacterial cells. from the cells and the test tube. the liquid.
their contents.

Radioactive
DNA
Batch 2
Radioactive
DNA Centrifuge
Radioactivity
Pellet in pellet
 Results:
– The sulfur-labeled protein stayed with the
phages outside the bacterial cell, while the
phosphorus-labeled DNA was detected inside
cells

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 Self-Quiz
• What does transformation involve in
bacteria?
A. The creation of a strand of DNA from an RNA molecule
B. The creation of a strand of RNA from a DNA molecule
C. The infection of cells by a phage DNA molecule
D. The assimilation of external protein into a cell
E. The assimilation of external DNA into a cell
 Self Quiz
• In trying to determine whether DNA or protein
was the genetic material, Hershey and Chase
made use of which of the following facts?
– A. DNA does not contain sulfur, whereas protein
does.
– B. DNA contains phosphorus, but protein does not.
– C. DNA contains greater amounts of nitrogen than
does protein.
– D. A and B only are correct.
– E. A, B, and C are correct.
 Self-Quiz
• The original pathogenic (harmful) strain of
Streptococcus pneumoniae was the
– A. R (rough) strain
– B. S (smooth) strain
– C. E (endospore) strain
– D. Both A and B are correct.
– E. A, B, and C are correct.
 What’s wrong with this idea?
• For a senior project, two students decided
to repeat the Hershey and Chase
experiment, with modifications. They
decide that labeling the phosphates of the
DNA wasn’t good enough. Each
nucleotide has only one phosphate,
whereas each has two to five nitrogens.
Thus, labeling the nitrogens would provide
a stronger label than labeling the
phosphates.