Question

An experiment was done by Gierer and Schramm where they exposed plant tissue to purified RNA from tobacco mosaic virus, and the plants developed the same types of lesions as if they had been exposed to the virus itself. After checking relevant websites, what would you suggest would their results be if the RNA is treated with DNase, RNase, or protease prior to its exposure to the plant tissue

Answer 1

See the answer below

Step-by-step explanation:

A DNase is also known as deoxyribonuclease and it is an enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of deoxyribonucleic acid by cleaving the phosphodiester linkage in their structures. Thus, if the RNA is treated with a DNase before the plants are exposed to it, it will not make any difference. The plants will develop the same types of lesions as if they have been exposed to the mosaic virus.

Unlike DNase, RNase is a ribonuclease, an enzyme that is capable of carrying out catalytic degradation of ribonucleic acids. This means that if the RNA is treated with RNase before the plants are made to be exposed to it, they will not develop the lesions because the RNA would have been degraded by the enzyme.

A protease is an enzyme that degrades the structure of proteins. Treating a RNA with protease will thus have no effect on the structure of the RNA. Exposing the plants to the protease-treated RNA will make no difference. The plants will still come down with the lesions as if they have been exposed to the virus.