You Isolate an Infectious Substance Capable of Causing Disease in Plants

You isolate an infectious substance capable of causing disease in plants, but you do not know whether the infectious agent is a bacterium, virus or prion. You have four methods at your disposal to analyse the substance and determine the nature of the infectious agent.
I. Treat the substance with enzymes that destroy all nucleic acids, and then determine whether the substance is still infectious.
II. Filter the substance to remove all elements smaller than what can be easily seen under a light microscope.
III. Culture the substance on nutritive medium, away from any plant cells.
IV. Treat the sample with proteases that digest all proteins and then determine whether the substance is still infectious.
-
If you already know that the infectious agent was either a virus or a prion, which method(s) listed above would allow you to distinguish between these two possibilities?

A) I only
B) II only
C) IV only
D) either I or IV

Correct Answer:

Verified

Unlock this answer now
Get Access to more Verified Answers free of charge

Access For Free