Chapter 15 Outline

DNA: The Genetic Material

Early research leading to the discovery of DNA as the genetic material, the structure of DNA, and its manner of replication are topics covered in this chapter.

Chapter Outline

In this chapter outline, the learning objectives and the selected key terms are given for each major head in the chapter.

1. List the requirements for a substance to serve as the genetic material.

Searching for the Genetic Material (p. 232)

2. Describe the transformation experiment of Griffith, including his surprising results

and conclusion.

3. Tell how Avery and colleagues showed that DNA is the transforming

substance.

4. Describe the experiment of Hershey and Chase with T viruses, and tell how it

showed that DNA is the genetic material.

Selected Key Terms: mutation, nucleic acid, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA

(ribonucleic acid), bacteriophage

Finding the Structure of DNA (p. 235)

5. Explain Chargaff's rules for DNA and tell why they are significant.

6. Describe the Watson and Crick model of DNA, and tell how it fits the Chargaff

and the Franklin data.

purine, adenine (A), guanine (G), pyrimidine, thymine (T), cytosine (C),

complementary base pairing

DNA Can Be Replicated (p. 238)

7. Describe the semiconservative manner in which DNA replicates.

8. Tell how Meselson and Stahl demonstrated that DNA replication is

semiconservative.

9. Contrast the process of DNA replication in prokaryotes and

eukaryotes.

semiconservative replication, DNA polymerase

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