11: DNA Structure & Replication Flashcards
Module 2, Lesson 5
The modern model of DNA was proposed by ____ in ____.
Watson and Crick ; 1953
____ used x-ray diffraction to deduce the 3D structure of DNA in ____.
Rosalind Franklin ; 1953
DNA is a…
Nucleic acid
List the three main components of a nucleotide.
- 5-carbon pentose sugar
- Nitrogenous base
- Phosphate group
In DNA, the chemical group attached to the 2’ carbon is…
Deoxyribose
(an H molecule)
In RNA, the chemical group attached to the 2’ carbon is…
Ribose
(an OH group)
Which carbon(s) in the pentose sugar are involved in nucleotide bonding?
3’ and 5’
What component of a nucleotide is attached the 1’ carbon?
Nitrogenous base
List the four nitrogenous bases that may be found in DNA.
- Adenine
- Thymine
- Cytosine
- Guanine
Adenine and guanine are double-ringed structures called…
Purines
Cytosine and thymine are single-ringed structures called…
Pyrimidines
Uracil, found in RNA, is also a pyrimidine.
Which component of a nucleotide is attached to the 5’ carbon?
The phosphate group
(PO4)
Nucleotides are linked together via…
Phosphodiester bonds
When nucleotides link, bonds form between the ____ end of one and the ____ end of another.
5’ (phosphate) and 3’ (hydroxyl)
Nucleotides can assemble into long strands using…
Dehydration synthesis reactions
In a strand of nucleotides, one end will always be a free ____ carbon and the other will always be a free ____ carbon.
5’ and 3’
True or false:
DNA molecules are nonpolar.
False
All DNA molecules have intrinsic polarity.
The sequence of nitrogenous bases in a strand of nucleotides is always written…
From the 5’ end to the 3’ end
Chargaff’s rules state that…
(two)
- There is always an equal proportion of purines and pyrimidines in DNA
- The purine:pyrimidine ratio varies between species
What can be inferred about nitrogenous bases from Chargaff’s rules?
- The amount of adenine equals the amount of thymine
- The amount of cytosine equals the amount of guanine
The process of shooting X-rays through a crystal of interest, then analyzing the pattern produced by the rays, is called…
X-ray diffraction
X-ray diffraction was used to determine…
(three things)
- That DNA has a helical shape
- The diameter of the helix
- The distance between helical turns
True or false:
In developing their model of DNA, Watson and Crick never performed a single experiment related to DNA.
True
Each molecule of DNA consists of two strands of nucleotides that twist together to form a…
Double helix
The “backbone” of each nucleotide strand is composed of…
Sugar and phosphate units
Hence why it is sometimes called the “sugar-phosphate backbone”.
Nitrogenous bases pair with a base on the opposing strand using…
Hydrogen bonds
When cytosine bonds with guanine, they form ____ H-bond(s).
3
When adenine bonds with thymine, they form ____ H-bonds.
2
The diameter of a DNA molecule is consistently…
2 nm
List the two grooves found in the sugar-phosphate backbone.
- Major groove (larger)
- Minor groove (smaller)
The two strands in a DNA molecule run ____ to each other.
Antiparallel
If one strand of DNA has a sequence of 5’-ACCTAG-3’, what is the sequence of the other strand?
5’-CTAGGT-3’
don’t memorize this particular sequence, I just made it up to illustrate a point
The Watson-Crick model suggested that the basis of copying genetic information was…
Complementary
What does it mean when we say that DNA replication is “complementary”?
The sequence of the parental strand determines the sequence of the daughter strand.
List the three proposed models of DNA replication.
- Conservative
- Semi-conservative
- Dispersive
Which model of DNA replication did Watson and Crick believe was most likely to be correct?
The semi-conservative model
The conservative model suggests that during DNA replication…
Both parent strands stay intact, and the daughter molecule contains all-new material.
The semi-conservative model suggested that during DNA replication…
1 parent strand remains intact, and 1 new daughter strand is synthesized
The dispersive model suggests that during DNA replication…
Parts of both parental strands are dispersed throughout the daughter molecule and mix with newly-synthesized DNA.
In 1958, Meselson and Stahl’s experiments supported the ____ model.
Semi-conservative
How does a molecule of DNA replicate?
(very broadly)
The helix is opened and both strands are copied, so the daughter molecule has one parental strand and one new strand
What three things are needed for DNA replication to proceed?
- Something to copy
- Something to do the copying
- Enough relevant building blocks
During DNA replication, the parental molecule becomes the…
Template
The copying of DNA is facilitated by enzymes called…
DNA polymerase
The “building blocks” for new DNA are…
Nuceloside triphosphates
(sometimes the textbook will call these “nucleotide triphosphates”, treat both as being correct)
A molecule that contains only a pentose sugar and a nitrogenous base is termed a…
Nucleoside
List the three stages of DNA replication.
- Initiation - process starts
- Elongation - synthesis of new DNA
- Termination - process ends