Biology, Eighth Edition (Raven)

Chapter 14: DNA: The Genetic Material

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the experiments that first supported the hypothesis that a cell’s hereditary material is located in the nucleus.
• Understand the theory and conclusions associated with the Griffith and Avery experiments using Pneumococcus and mice.
• Explain the evidence that supports the identity of DNA as hereditary material.
• Identify the three subunits of DNA and describe how they are put together to construct an intact molecule.
• Understand the importance of Chargaff’s rules and the complementary nature of nucleotide bases.
• Describe Watson and Crick’s three--dimensional model of DNA based upon Franklin’s X-ray crystallography.
• Know what is meant by semiconservative replication of DNA and how it was determined.
• Explain the process of semidiscontinuous replication in both strands of the DNA double helix.
• Understand the one gene-one polypeptide hypothesis and the experimental evidence behind it.