If protease treatment in Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty's experiment prevented the transformation of bacteria, what would have been the conclusion of these researchers?

Question

Biology

Anya Arroyo

6 September, 08:07

If protease treatment in Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty's experiment prevented the transformation of bacteria, what would have been the conclusion of these researchers?

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Answers (1)

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York · Answer 1

Protein is the genetic material; not DNA.

Explanation:

In Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty's experiment, digestion of proteins with the enzyme protease and use of this extract from the heat-killed S cell did not affect its ability to transform the R cell into the S cells. However, there was no transformation when the cellular extract of heat-killed S cells was treated with DNAse enzyme. They concluded that DNA was the genetic material responsible for transformation.

If protease treatment of cellular extracts of heat-killed S cell would have prevented the process of transformation, protein would have been concluded to be the genetic material.