Richard Boyce and Paul Howard-Flanders conducted an experiment that provided biochemical evidence that thymine dimers are removed from DNA by a DNA repair system. In their studies, bacterial DNA was radiolabeled so the amount of radioactivity reflected the amount of thymine dimers. The DNA was then subjected to UV light, causing the formation of thymine dimers. When radioactivity was found in the soluble fraction, thymine dimers had been excised from the DNA by a DNA repair system. But when the radioactivity was in the insoluble fraction, the thymine dimers had been retained within the DNA. The following table illustrates some of their results involving a normal strain of E. coli and a mutant strain that was very sensitive to killing by UV light:

Explain the results found in this table. Why is the mutant strain sensitive to UV light?

Transcribed Image Text:

Radioactivity in the Insoluble Fraction (cpm) Radioactivity in the Soluble Fraction (cpm) Strain Normal No UV Normal UV-treated Treatment c100 <40 incubated 2 hours at 37°C No UV 357 940 Mutant $100 <40 Mutant UV-treated, incubated2 hours at 37 C 890 <40