10.12 The Central Dogma Flashcards
1
Q
What is DNA composed of?
A
- Sugar phosphate back-bone
- AT, GC bases, held by Hydrogen bonds (weak/easily broken).
2
Q
How is DNA replicated?
A
- Helicase unzips the double-stranded DNA for replication.
- Primase generates short strands of RNA that bind to single-stranded DNA to initiate DNA synthesis.
- DNA polymerase can only add new bases on the 5-3 direction, so it replicates the leading strand continuously.
3
Q
DNA polymerase
A
- Enzymes that coordinate the spontaneous synthesis of new DNA strands.
- Can make errors, therefore can introduce variation.
4
Q
Point mutations
A
- Mistakes made during DNA replication.
- Viruses have very high mutation rates.
5
Q
How many base pairs in one copy of the human genome?
A
3.2 billion. Stored in every cell!
6
Q
DNA compaction
A
Packaging of DNA into compact storage units.
Done by a histones and other proteins.
7
Q
What are proteins?
A
- Organic compounds made from a chain of amino acids.
- Critical to virtually every single function of the cell.
- 20 different amino acids.
8
Q
The Central Dogma
A
DNA - Transcription - RNA - Proteins
9
Q
DNA transcription
A
- RNA polymerase synthesizes RNA strands from DNA template.
- RNA polymerase reads DNA in the 3-5 direction.
10
Q
What makes up RNA?
A
- Sugar phosphate backbone
- AU, GC bases.
11
Q
What is mRNA?
A
- messenger that transcribes information from the original DNA template and transports it to other parts of the cell.
12
Q
What are Ribosomes?
A
Enzyme that coordinates the interaction between mRNA and tRNA to make amino acid chain (proteins).
