A principal problem with inserting an unmodified mammalian gene into a BAC, and then getting that gene expressed in bacteria, is that
A) prokaryotes use a different genetic code from that of eukaryotes.
B) bacteria translate polycistronic messages only.
C) bacteria cannot remove eukaryotic introns.
D) bacterial RNA polymerase cannot make RNA complementary to mammalian DNA.
E) bacterial DNA is not found in a membrane-bounded nucleus and is therefore incompatible with mammalian DNA.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The presence of introns in mammalian genes is a major problem when trying to express them in bacteria, as bacteria do not have the machinery to remove introns from pre-mRNA transcripts. Therefore, the unmodified mammalian gene will contain introns that will not be spliced out by the bacterial transcriptional machinery.

A Principal Problem with Inserting an Unmodified Mammalian Gene into a BAC