In Griffith’s experiment, mice that were exposed to the heat killed S bacteria that had been mixed with live R bacteria died, even though live R bacteria alone did not kill the mice. Griffith called the substance in the heat-killed S bacteria “transforming factor” because it transformed the non-virulent R bacteria into virulent bacteria. Avery continued the experiments of Griffith to determine what molecule was in the “transforming factor”. (DNases digest DNA into individual deoxyribonucleotides, RNases digest RNA into individual ribonucleotides, proteases digest proteins into individual amino acids). Which of the following would NOT kill the mice?

a) Heat killed R bacteria treated with DNases plus live S bacteria

b) Heat killed R bacteria treated with RNases plus live S bacteria

c) Heat killed R bacteria treated with proteases plus live S bacteria

d) Heat killed S bacteria treated with DNases plus live R bacteria

e) Heat killed S bacteria treated with RNases plus live R bacteria

f) Heat killed S bacteria treated with proteases plus live R bacteria

part 2:
In Griffith’s experiment, what allowed the S strain of this bacteria to kill the mice? (select all that apply)

Group of answer choices

a) the polysaccharide capsule around the bacterial cell

b) the mice infected with S bacteria have a deficient immune system

c) the S bacteria cannot be detected efficiently by the mouse’s immune system

d) the S bacteria contains genes that attack the mouse’s immune cells