2. DNA Hybridisation Flashcards
RECAP: Where do the nitrogenous base, phosphate group and hydroxyl group join onto?
- Nitrogenous base joined to carbon 1
- Phosphate group joined to carbon 5
- Hydroxyl group carbon 3
RECAP: Which nucleotides are pyrimidine and purines?
pYrimidines:
• cYtosine
• thYmine
pUrines:
• gUanine
• adenine
RECAP: What about the structure provides specificity of base pairing?
The charged or polar groups
RECAP:What type on bonding determines Watson and Crick base pairing? and how many between each base pair?
Hydrogen bonds between oppositely charged groups
AT = 2 GC = 3 – So this is a stronger bond
RECAP: How are sugar phosphates linked?
Backbone of DNA is formed by phosphodiester linkage. – Connects the 3 and 5 prime carbons of deoxyribose sugar
RECAP: What is the stability of the DNA structure determined by?
Free energy of the molecule and energy minimisation.
RECAP: What is base stacking?
A form of hydrophobic interactions, arrangement of bases set above each other, which excludes water from the internal structure.
RECAP: What provides structural stability to DNA?
Hydrogen bonding of the bases, and internal arrangement and additional stability by base stacking and van der Waals (individually small).
RECAP: What give DNA an overall negative charge?
The negatively charged phosphates external
What happens when DNA is denatured? And what causes this to happen?
• Conversion of ds molecule to ss molecules – which forms randomly structured coil.
• Caused by disruption of the H bonds
o Occurs when DNA in solution is heated
o Can be induced by strong alkali or urea
How can denaturation be optically measured?
Ss DNA absorbs UV light to a greater extent than ds DNA
Hyperchromicity: Increased absorption of light at 260nm on denaturation
What is Tm?
- The melting temperature. The point at which 50% of all strands separate.
- This characteristic is specific to an individual double helical structure and we can use this knowledge to control formation of the duplex
What does the stability and Tm of a DNA molecule depend on?
- GC content
- Length of molecule
- Salt conc
- pH (alkali is a denaturant)
- No of mismatches (unmatched base pairs)
What is the relationship between GC content and Tm?
• Higher GC content= more hydrogen bonds = higher Tm
How can you measure the %GC?
(G+C)/(G+C+A+T) X 100