Question

Which of the statements about "Denaturation" given below is correct?

Statements:
(a) Denaturation of proteins causes loss of secondary and tertiary structures of the protein
(b) Denaturation leads to the conversion of a double strand of DNA into a single strand
(c) Denaturation affects primary structure which gets distorted

• A. (a), (b) and (c)
• B. (b) and (c)
• C. (a) and (c)
• D. (a) and (b)

Answer 1

The correct option is D (a) and (b)

Denaturation is a process in which proteins lose their secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure because of some external factors like heat, acid, base etc. After denaturation of protein, it loses its 3D structure and hence it doesn't function further.

eg: When we cook food, the proteins undergo denaturation.

When we heat DNA, the two strands of DNA break up into a single strand. The heat supplied pull the 2 strands apart and hence we get single strands. This is called as DNA denaturation or DNA melting.

As shown in the above fig, double-stranded DNA breaks down to single strand because of heat.