Question

What is one gene - one enzyme hypothesis?

Answer 1

The one gene–one enzyme hypothesis was proposed by George Wells Beadle in 1941. It suggests that single gene produces a single enzyme, which later affects an individual step in a metabolic pathway. Beadle demonstrated that one gene in a fruit fly produces one enzyme which in turn controls a single chemical reaction. In this, each gene acts as a chemical molecule and has a particular function. Archibald Garrod first suggested that genes were connected to enzymes. Beadle and Tatum later confirmed this hypothesis using genetic and biochemical studies of the bread mold Neurospora crassa.