Nucleic Acid:

The carrier of genetic information

Historical Perspective
Objective
The objective of this presentation is to find the answers to the following questions:

1. What’s genetic material?

2. What could be genetic material?
3. How did we find it ?
What do we call as “Genetic Material”?
1. Stores information

2. Expresses information

3. Replicates

4. Shows variations
What could be that ?
● Till 1868, proteins were
considered to be the genetic
material.
● Until 1944, experimental
observations also favoured protein,
in being the genetic material .
Proteins !
● A diverse number of proteins
were known to be abundant
in cells.
● Much more protein
chemistry was seen and
studied
And as 1868 set in... Proteins Or may be
DNA !

Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss

Chemist, isolated nuclei from pus cells, and
derived an acidic substance containing both
nitrogen and phosphorus.
He called it Nuclein.

...And thus the race began

1927: Griffith’s Experiment
Model Organism: Diplococcus pneumoniae (= Streptococcus pneumoniae)

(and mice)

Strain IIR IIIS

Virulence Non-virulent Virulent (Causes mice to die)

Appearance of the colony Rough Smooth

Capsule Absent Present

The Experiment
Injected with live IIR Strain bacteria

Injected with live IIIS Strain bacteria

Injected with heat killed IIIS Strain bacteria

Injected with live IIR Strain bacteria and

!?
heat killed IIIS Strain bacteria
Inference from Griffith’s experiment

Since neither the heat killed IIIS strain bacteria nor the living IIR strain
bacteria could alone cause the disease,
That implies, that the heat killed IIIS strain cells “interacted” with the
living IIR strain cells.

“A transforming principle from the heat killed IIIS strain cells converted
the avirulent IIR cells to virulent IIIS cells.”

This phenomenon was called Transformation.

 However !

This is not genetical!

This is physiological !
1944: Avery, Macleod and Mccarty's Experiment
Let’s do it,
Ohh again !
Yes!
 The Experiment: Reincarnation of Transformation
Centrifugation on IIIS Cells. Heat Killing Recovering IIIS Filtrate.
Testing the filtrate for transformation
Inference from the experiment
DNase treated IIIS extract did not cause tranformation.
That implies, that DNA was required for transformation to happen.
That implied, that DNA was the Transforming Principle Griffith was talking
about.

Also, since the IIS cells recovered from transformation, had the reproduced to form
daughter IIS cells, hence it was fair to conclude that this transforming principle was
inherited from one generation to another, hence proving that DNA was the genetic
material.
 Nopes !
Still not convincing enough !
1952: The Hershey and Chase Experiment
Model Organisms: Escherichia coli

T4 Bacteriophage
The Experiment
The experiment began with the culturing of viruses in two types of medium.
One set of virusewas cultured in a medium of radioactive phosphorus whereas
another set was cultured in a medium of radioactive sulfur. They observed
that the first set of virusenconsisted of radioactive DNA but not radioactive
proteins. This is because DNA is a phosphorus-based compound while
protein is not. The latter set of viruses consisted of radioactive protein but not
radioactive DNA.

The host for infection was E.coli bacteria. The viruses were allowed to
infect bacteria by removing the viral coats through a number of blending and
centrifugation.
Observation

E.coli bacteria which were infected

by radioactive DNA viruses
were radioactive but the ones that
were infected by radioactive protein
viruses were non-radioactive.
Result
Resultant radioactive and non-radioactive bacteria infer that the viruses that had
radioactive DNA transferred their DNA to the bacteria but viruses that had
radioactive protein didn’t get transferred to the bacteria. Hence, DNA is the
genetic material and not the protein.

DNA was thus the unequivocal genetic material.

What about those without
DNA ?
The story of Retroviruses
1957: Fraenkel-Conrat Experiment
Result
When the hybrid or reconstituted viruses were rubbed into live tobacco leaves, the progeny viruses
produced were always found to be phenotypically and genotypically identical to the parental type from
where the RNA had been isolated.

Thus the genetic information of TMV is stored in the RNA and not in the
protein.
 Created By:

Vidha Srivastava
Shivaji College, University of Delhi
Course: B.Sc. (Hons) Botany
Semester: 4
Roll No. : 17/09009
University Roll No. 17071556002
Subject: Molecular Biology (Unit 1)

Gregor Johann Mendel Submitted To

Sincere thanks to our father and founder, the man who Dr. V. Prabhavati
paved the ways walking on which we are slowly unveiling Dr. Kiran Bamel
molecular the truths of life and its inheritance.