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DNA or RNA

Module 1.1

THE GENETIC MATERIAL

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Explain why the genetic material can either be DNA or RNA.

• Describe the crucial experiments that proved nucleic acids

as the genetic material of living organisms.

• Distinguish between DNA and chromosomes and explain the

chromosome theory of inheritance.
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• The total genetic information within a cell is referred to as

the genome.

• Genomes are comprised of nucleic acids in the form of DNA

or RNA.

• DNA is packaged into organised structures known as

chromosomes and encodes all hereditary information.

• Segments of DNA that encode functional products (proteins)

are known as genes.
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HOW DO WE KNOW
THAT NUCLEIC ACIDS
(DNA / RNA) ARE THE
GENETIC MATERIALS?
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Three experiments proved without a doubt that DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) is the near universal genetic material:

1. Transforming Experiment
Griffith (1928)
Avery, McCarthy & McCleod (1944)

2. Blender Experiments
Hershey & Chase (1953)

3. Reconstituted TMV Experiment

Fraenkel-Conrat (1955)
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1a. Transforming Experiment (Griffith, 1928)

• Griffith’s experiment employed TWO different strains
of Pneumococcus bacteria:
• IIIS (smooth) causes pneumonia.
• IIR (rough) is harmless.

• Both strains were used to infect mice:

• IIIS- mice died.
• IIR- mice survived.
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1a. Transforming Experiment continued

• Mice injected with dead IIIS survived.

• Mice injected with a mixture of dead IIIS and live

IIR died.
• Live IIIS were recovered from the carcases.

• The IIR was transformed by a component (called the

transforming principle) of the dead IIIS.
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1a. Transforming Experiment (illustration)
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1b. Transforming principle (Avery, McCarty &
McCleod,1944)
• Three different sets of IIIS bacteria were heat-killed,
homogenized and filtered.
• Each one was treated with one enzyme:
• Proteinase- degrades proteins
• Ribonuclease (RNAse) – degrades RNA
• Deoxyribonuclease (DNAse) – degrades DNA.

• When live IIR was added, only DNAse treatment did

not result in live IIIS cells.
• Conclusion: DNA is the genetic material!!!
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2. Hershey-Chase Experiment: Blender Experiment
• Bacteriophages were used to prove DNA is the
genetic material.

• Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacterial cells.

• The phage consists of DNA surrounded by a
protein coat.

• Bacteriophages infect bacteria by injecting their DNA

into the bacterial cell, but the protein coat remains
on the outside.

• Radioactive labelling helped identify whether protein

or DNA was acting as the genetic material.
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• Bacteriophages grown in medium
containing 35S-labelled amino
acids showed no radioactivity
inside the infected bacterial cell.

• Bacteriophages grown in medium

containing 32P resulted in
radioactive labelling of DNA in
the infected bacterial cell.

• DNA molecules in the progeny

bacteriophages inside the
bacterial cell were also
radioactive.
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3. Reconstituted TMV experiment (RNA!!!)
• Many viruses have RNA and protein but no DNA.

• Two strains (A and B) of TMV (tobacco mosaic virus) were treated

with chemicals to dissociate the protein coat from the RNA.

• Protein from strain-A was mixed with RNA from strain-B.

• All progeny viruses contained RNA from strain-B and a protein

coat from strain-B.

• Hence RNA must be the genetic material.

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3. Reconstituted TMV experiment (Illustration)
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SUMMARY
• Two experiments showed conclusively that DNA is the
genetic material:
– Transforming experiment and Transforming principle
– Blender Experiment.

• The reconstituted TMV experiment showed that RNA

is the genetic material in some plant viruses.