Answer to Question #342117 in Microbiology for Sam

Question

You discovered that a species of bacteria can break down StyrofoamTM (polystyrene) products due to an

enzyme it produces, polystyrenase. You wish to study the gene that codes for this enzyme.

Agarose Gel Electrophoresis

Your amplicon from PCR was subjected to AGE for analysis. You are shown the image of the gel loaded

with the following lanes: (A) negative control, (B) size ladder (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 10 kb), (C) gDNA extract, (D)

PCR amplicon. However, due to mishaps while loading the gel with the samples, you are not sure which lane

is which. You are shown a diagram of the obtained gel below.

a. Label each lane of the gel. Write only the corresponding letters in the wells above.

b. Above each band in the size ladder, write its size (in kb).

c. Approximate the size (in kb) of the polystyrenase gene. Write your answer above the band

corresponding to the gene.

Bonus: If you wish to identify the bacterial species in this scenario, what gene is most commonly and

routinely sequenced?

Answer