one gene/one enzyme hypothesis

one gene/one enzyme hypothesis

a proposal put forward by George BEADLE and Edward Tatum in 1941 to explain the results of their experiments with the fungus Neurospora crassa. By developing mutant strains (AUXOTROPHS) that would not grow on a MINIMAL MEDIUM but would grow on a supplemented medium, and by detecting the accumulation of metabolites, they were able to show that the different enzymes catalysing each step in a particular biochemical pathway were each controlled by a different gene. See also CISTRON.