Which best describes the role of restriction enzymes in the analysis of edna? a. to break dna into fragments that vary in size so they can be sorted and analyzed b. to purify samples of dna obtained from the environment so they can be analyzed c. to sort different sizes of dna fragments into a banding pattern that can be analyzed d. to amplify small amounts of dna and generate large amounts of dna for analysis

a. to break dna into fragments that vary in size so they can be sorted and analyzed.

Explanation:

eDNA or environmental DNA is a DNA sample that is collected from the different environmental samples such as seawater, snow, soil, or even air instead of obtaining samples from individual organisms.  As organisms interact with their environment, the DNA is expelled in the surrounding.

Analysis of the eDNA is similar to the DNA obtain from an individual organism. The restriction enzyme is a protein that simply recognizes a nucleotide sequence present on a long DNA molecule and cut at it's specific site which is also called as target sequence or restriction site. The restriction enzyme breaks the long DNA molecule into small fragments. As the DNA molecule exhibit a long size it has be cut into fragments so that it can be used for the purpose of analysis.