Which of the following processes is most likely to be inhibited by the presence of extracellular nucleases?
A. ConjugationB. Generalized transduction
C. Specialized transduction
D. Transformation
E. Transposition
The answer
is. D. Transformation
In transformation, the DNA is extracellular before it
is picked up by the competent cells; during this period, the DNA is subject to
the extracellular endonucleases. Because the DNA in generalized and specialized
transductions is protected extracellularly by the virus capsid, it is not
subject to extracellular endonucleases. In conjugation, the DNA is never
outside of a cell. Transposition is a mechanism of inserting a transposon into
another molecule of DNA and has no extracellular transport mechanism associated
with it.
