Incubation of DNA at Low PH is MOST Likely to Cause

Question

Incubation of DNA at low pH is MOST likely to cause:
A) depurination.
B) depyrimidination.
C) mutation of cytosine to uracil.
D) hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond.
E) deamination of adenine and guanine.

Accepted Answer

Low pH can lead to depurination, which means that the purine bases (adenine and guanine) can be lost from the DNA backbone due to the cleavage of the glycosidic bond between the base and the sugar. This can cause breaks or mutations in the DNA strand. The other options are less likely to occur under low pH conditions.