- Exam
- NEET
- Subject
- Zoology
- Chapter
- Biotechnology - Principles and Processes
NEET · Zoology · Biotechnology - Principles and Processes
What is the difference between exonucleases and endonucleases?
Options
- AExonucleases make cuts at specific positions within the DNA, while endonucleases remove nucleotides from the ends of the DNA.
- BEndonucleases make cuts at specific positions within the DNA, while exonucleases remove nucleotides from the ends of the DNA.
- CExonucleases inspect the length of a DNA sequence, while endonucleases bind to the DNA and cut each of the two strands of the double helix.
- DEndonucleases inspect the length of a DNA sequence, while exonucleases bind to the DNA and cut each of the two strands of the double helix.
Correct answer
B. Endonucleases make cuts at specific positions within the DNA, while exonucleases remove nucleotides from the ends of the DNA.
Step-by-step solution
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. >Each restriction endonuclease functions by ‘inspecting’ the length of a DNA sequence. Once it finds its specific recognition sequence, it will bind to the DNA and cut each of the two strands of the double helix at specific points in their sugar -phosphate backbones. Each restriction endonuclease recognizes a specific palindromic nucleotide sequences in the DNA