Griffith's experiments along with Avery, MacLeod and McCarty helped to determine the transforming factors of Pneumococcus bacteria. Using heat-killed S-strain bacteria and one particular fraction of the cell lysates, they were able to demonstrate that _ and not __ was responsible for the basis of lethality of the strain.

Question

Griffith's experiments along with Avery, MacLeod and McCarty helped to determine the transforming factors of Pneumococcus bacteria. Using heat-killed S-strain bacteria and one particular fraction of the cell lysates, they were able to demonstrate that _ and not __ was responsible for the basis of lethality of the strain.

a. proteins, DNA
b. DNA, proteins
c. deoxyribonuclease, mucous coat
d. polysaccharides, proteins

I assume the answer is "b" because DNA indeed is resposible for the basis of lethality of the strain. am I right?

Read the following link (Section Breakthrough discovery) and let me know what you think the answer is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Theodore_Avery

Answer 1

Based on the information in the link provided, you are correct. The answer is option b: DNA, proteins. Griffith, Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty's experiments demonstrated that DNA, not proteins, was responsible for the basis of lethality in the S-strain bacteria. They used heat-killed S-strain bacteria and a particular fraction of the cell lysates that contained DNA, which when combined with the living R-strain bacteria, resulted in the transformation of the R-strain into the deadly S-strain. This experiment provided evidence that DNA carries the genetic information responsible for the transformation.