Assignment 2 - 2017

Restriction enzymes

Answer the following questions using any source you like (you must cite your sources for each answer). Please be brief and to the point. The entire assignment should not take more than half-a-page. The assignment must be submitted via UR Courses.

New England Biolab is an excellent source for restriction enzyme information (there are some nice videos here as well). See also Restriction Endonucleases: Molecular Cloning and Beyond. Feel free to use other sources but remember to cite your sources (please cite the source(s) for each answer - I'm not fussy about the format of your citations for this assignment but please make sure they are complete).

  1. Describe the role of restriction enzymes in vivo. (One or two sentences. 2 marks - make sure you know what "in vivo" means).
  2. Describe the mechanism used by bacteria to protect their DNA from digestion by endogenous restriction enzymes. (One or two sentences. 2 marks)
  3. When choosing restriction enzymes to digest DNA isolated from bacteria, we must consider the genotype of the bacteria we isolated the DNA from. In particular, we must consider what restriction/modifications system(s) that bacteria has. What specifically do we need to consider? (One or two sentences. 2 marks )
  4. What features make Type II restriction enzymes the most useful in molecular cloning? You might have to think harder about this one. (Two to three sentences. 3 marks)

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