Griffith's experiment
Griffith's experiment,[1] performed by Frederick Griffith and reported in 1928,[2] was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation.[3][4] Griffith's findings were followed by research in the late 1930s and early 40s that isolated DNA as the material that communicated this genetic information.
In this experiment,
Today, we know that the "transforming principle" Griffith observed was the DNA of the III-s strain bacteria. While the bacteria had been killed, the DNA had survived the heating process and was taken up by the II-R strain bacteria. The III-S strain DNA contains the genes that form the smooth protective polysaccharide capsule. Equipped with this gene, the former II-R strain bacteria were now protected from the host's immune system and could kill the host. The exact nature of the transforming principle (DNA) was verified in the experiments done by Avery, McLeod and McCarty and by Hershey and Chase.
Notes
- .
- PMID 20474956.
- PMID 7968924.
- (PDF) from the original on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- ISBN 9780595407316.
References
- Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty (1944). "Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types: Induction of Transformation by a Desoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction Isolated from Pneumococcus Type III". Journal of Experimental Medicine. 79 (1): 137–158. PMID 19871359.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
- (References the original experiment by Griffith. Original article and 35th anniversary reprint available.)
Further reading
- Daniel Hartl; Elizabeth Jones (2005). Genetics: Analysis of Genes and Genomes, 6th edition. Jones & Bartlett. 854 pages. ISBN 0-7637-1511-5
- Lehrer, Steven (2006). Explorers of the Body (2nd ed.). United States: iUniverse, Inc. ISBN 0-595-40731-5.