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Mike
Lv 4
Mike asked in Science & MathematicsBiology · 1 decade ago

Hypothetically... Can a restriction site on a DNA sequence be less than 4 base pairs?

If there's any data you have to back up YES, then I will get another point back on my lab practical.

If it's HYPOTHETICALLY possible, I would love to know!

Thanks.

Mike

1 Answer

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  • 1 decade ago
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    it depends on what you're asking... does the question require that you're talking about a restriction site?

    i haven't really seen any that are less than 4 base pairs

    this has to do with the fact that restriction enzymes use a palendromic sequence to find where to cut

    you can't really form a palendrome with 3, or 1 base pairs, 2 maybe but then really it's just cutting at what seems a random spot, in which case you probably wouldn't call it a restriction enzyme you'd just call it a DNase or endonuclease

    you may try to look for endonucleases that only cut at

    AT

    TA

    or

    CG

    GC

    then try to argue that those are technically restriction enzymes

    so hypothetically, you may be correct,.. you may be asked to find evidence for the enzyme though

    i'm not really going to try to search for that but you can

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