Read the Passage carefully and answer the questions. There are two kinds of nucleases - exonucleases and endonucleases. Exonucleases remove nucleotides from the ends of the DNA whereas, endonucleases make cuts at specific positions within the DNA. The cutting of DNA by restriction endonucleases results in the fragments of DNA. These fragments can be separated by a technique known as gel electrophoresis. Since DNA fragments are negatively charged molecules they can be separated by forcing them to move towards the anode under an electric field through a medium/matrix. Small volume cultures cannot yield appreciable quantities of products. To produce in large quantities, the development of bioreactors, where large volumes (100-1000 litres) of culture can be processed, was required. Thus, bioreactors can be thought of as vessels in which raw materials are biologically converted into specific products, individual enzymes, etc., using microbial plant, animal or human cells. PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction. In this reaction, multiple copies of the gene (or DNA) of interest are synthesised in vitro using two sets of primers (small chemically synthesised oligonucleotides that are complementary to the regions of DNA) and the enzyme DNA polymerase. |
Which one of the following enzymes remove nucleotides from the ends of the DNA? |
Endonucleases Exonucleases Restriction enzymes Hind II |
Exonucleases |
The correct answer is Option (2) → Exonucleases Restriction Endonucleases (Molecular Scissors): These are enzymes that are commonly referred to as "molecular scissors" because they cut DNA molecules at specific recognition sequences. These recognition sequences are often palindromic, meaning the sequence reads the same forwards and backward. Restriction enzymes belong to a larger class of enzymes called nucleases. These are of two kinds; exonucleases and endonucleases. Exonucleases remove nucleotides from the ends of the DNA whereas, endonucleases make cuts at specific positions within the DNA. |