Answer :
Final answer:
Frederick Griffith's experiments with Streptococcus pneumoniae demonstrated that DNA transformation can occur between bacteria, with traits being transferred from one strain of bacteria to another.
Explanation:
British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith performed significant experiments with Streptococcus pneumoniae, which demonstrated the concept of DNA transformation.
Griffith worked with two strains of this bacterium: a rough (R) non-pathogenic strain and a smooth (S) pathogenic strain. In his experiments, Griffith found that when live R strain and heat-killed S strain were injected into mice, the mice died, and only the S strain bacteria were recovered from them. This was surprising because the S strain had been heat-killed, which was thought to make them harmless.
Griffith concluded that some material from the heat-killed S strain (which he called the 'transforming principle') had been absorbed by the live R strain, changing it into the deadly S strain. These experiments thus demonstrated that traits could be transferred between organisms - a process known as transformation.
A key discovery from Griffith's experiments was that the 'transforming principle' was later found to be DNA. This showed for the first time that DNA carries genetic information - an idea that was not widely accepted at that time. These experiments proved that DNA was the genetic material responsible for heredity, confirming the central role of DNA in biology.
Additionally, Griffith's experiments also showed that genetic traits are heritable as well as the fact that heat-killed bacteria can still transfer genetic information, thereby making a previously harmless strain pathogenic. His work laid the foundation for further studies on genetic inheritance and DNA function.
Learn more about Griffith's Experiments here:
https://brainly.com/question/31857422
#SPJ11