Who demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material of the T2 phage?

In this post, we will talk about the biology exam question – Who demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material of the T2 phage?

Who demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material of the T2 phage?

T-series phages

T-series phages are a class of viruses that infest Escherichia coli, and there are seven species. The English letter T means type, i.e. type. Scientists have numbered them T1-T7.

But it is very accidental to find that the phages of type T2, T4, and T6 have some common properties and morphological characteristics. And the other four types have less in common with them.

So now the first few are called even phages, while the others are called odd phages.

The first genetic recombination of phages was discovered in the 1940s in the E. coli T2 phage.

In 1952, scientists such as Hershey and Chase used T2 phage infestation experiments to prove that the genetic material was DNA. However, it was not proven that the genetic material was not a protein.

T2 phage

The T2 phage is tadpole-shaped with a polygonal head and a rod-shaped tail. The head consists of many identical protein subunits forming the outer shell and harbors a 50 nm long double-stranded DNA molecule. The composite tail consists of a tail tube, a tail sheath, a basal disc, a tail peg, and a tail filament.

And T2 phage nucleic acid molecular weight 13 Mu, double-stranded DNA virus, linear in shape, with E. coli as the host cell.

The relative molecular mass of the T2 phage is 1.3×10⁸ and the number of nucleotide pairs is 2.0×10⁵. And the chemical composition is about 60% protein and 40% DNA.

The T2 phage consists almost exclusively of proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid. Further graded isolation of phage proteins has been rarely attempted.

However, evidence from serology points to the presence of at least two distinct proteins, one of which is present in the head of the phage and the other in the tail of the phage.

Correct Answer

Here is the correct answer to Who demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material of the T2 phage?

In 1952, Hershey and Chase demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material of the T2 phage。

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