Question

Bacterial transformation and bacteriophage labeling experiments proved that DNA was the hereditary material in bacteria and in DNA-containing viruses. Some viruses do not contain DNA but have RNA inside the phage particle. An example is the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) that infects tobacco plants, causing lesions in the leaves. Two different variants of T MV exist that have different forms of a particular protein in the virus particle that can be distinguished. It is possible to reconstitute T MV in vitro (in the test tube) by mixing purified proteins and RNA. The reconstituted virus can then be used to infect the host plant cells and produce a new generation of viruses. Design an experiment to show that RNA acts as the hereditary material in TMV.

Answer 1

Answer:

Mix RNA from virus type I with the protein from virus type II to reconstitute a hybrid virus. In a parallel experiment, mix protein from virus type I with the RNA from virus type II. After that infect the cells with each of these reconstituted hybrid viruses distinctly, and assess the protein in the progeny viruses, which originates from each of the infections.  

One will see that the progeny viruses in each case exhibit the protein, which matches the type of RNA in the parent hybrid virus. The protein in the progeny did not match with the protein in the parent hybrid virus.