Question

Coliphage $\varphi \times 174$ virus contains

• A. Single stranded $RNA$
• B. Double stranded $RNA$
• C. Single stranded $DNA$
• D. Double stranded $DNA$

Answer 1

The correct option is C Single stranded $DNA$

The ϕ X 174 bacteriophage is a single-stranded DNA virus that infects Escherichia coli and it is the first DNA based genome to be sequenced. This sequence work was completed by Fred Sanger and his team in 1977. This bacteriophage has a circular single-stranded DNA genome made of 5386 nucleotides which encodes 11 proteins. Of these 11 genes, only 8 are essential to viral morphogenesis. So the correct answer is 'Single-stranded DNA'.