3. DNA replication Flashcards
What does DNA polymerase do?
- uses two parental strands as a template to faithfully synthesize new daughter strands according to the specific base pairing system
What does DNA helicase do?
unwinding and strand separation using the energy relased from ATP hydrolysis
Why is DNA helicase so important?
Semi-conservative replication needs the anti-parallel parental DNA to be unwound / single stranded
What can hinder DNA polymerase during replication
secondary structures in the single strand, “hair pins”
What prevents secondary structure in single strands to hinder DNA polymerase?
single-strand binding protein monomers, this straightens region of chain
In which direction is the newly synthesized DNA strand?
5’ to 3’ direction
to which end are the new dNTPs added?
to the free 3’ OH group
What reaction occurs to add a new nucleotide to the DNA strand
condensation reaction forming a new phosphodiester bond.
- by product: water and pyrophosphate
What is the Template strand?
the DNA complementary to the newly synthesized strand. template strand is also complimentary to primer strand
What does ribonucleotide reductase do?
helps to convert:
- UDP -> deoxyUDP
- ADP -> deoxy ADP etc.
What does kinase do with deoxyGDP/deoxyADP/etc. ?
converts them into dGTP/ dATP / dCTP
How does dTTP formed from deoxyUDP
deoxyUDP -> dUMP -> (using Thymidylate synthas) dTMP -> dTDP -> TTP
How is chromosomal DNA synthesis catalyzed
- through DNA polymerase III
What help does DNA polymerase III need in order to bind DNA and start replication?
- requires “sliding clamp” and clamp holder
What does the sliding clamp require
- a complex of proteins (i.e. the clamp loading complex)
- energy released from ATP hydrolysis (to load onto the DNA)
Can base-pairing mistakes be corrected? How?
Yes. by removing the incorrect base via the 3’-exonuclease activity of the DNApol III complex
How is DNA synthesized on the lagging strand?
in okazaki fragments which are eventually joined (ligated) to form a complete strand
How does DNA synthesis get started?
- DNA pol III can only elongate onto an existing strand
- DNA primase: a specialized RNA polymerase can start the synthesis using DNA as a template strand
Why can DNApol III not start DNA synthesis without a primer?
- it can only elongate an already existing strand because a free 3’ OH group is required
What happens to the RNA primers and okazaki fragments on the lagging strand?
- DNApol III finishes synthesis of okazaki fragment up until the RNA primer without joining the two molecules
How can the gaps between okazaki fragments and RNA primer be eliminated?
- the gap is recognized by DNApol I which removes the RNA primer and fills in the space with template direct DNA
What does DNA ligase do?
It is an enzyme that joins the two adjacent DNA okazaki fragments
What does DNA helicase do to the replication fork?
at the replication fork, it causes great strain of the DNA double helix as the two ends of the helix cannot freely rotate in respect to each other
How are small bacterial genomes replicated?
they are circular and usually replicated from a single ‘replication origin’ that consists of tandem repeat rich DNA sequences
Do large eukaryotic genomes also have origins of replication?
Yes but they replicated from many different origins of replication
What is different about the origins of replication of eukaryotic genomes?
- have multiple origins of replication compromising of many different sequence variations (approx. 100 000 in human genome)
- not all activated at the same time
- mechanism involves the assembly of the pre-replication complex (Pre-RC) of proteins prior to their activation and initiation of DNA synthesis
What is the problem with DNA replication on the lagging strand?
there is a progressive shortening of chromosomal ends and genetic instability, due to the removal of the RNA primer at the end of the strand.
What do telomers provide for the chromosomal ends?
telomeres provide a kind of “buffer” to protect genes located in the ‘sub telomeric’ regions
- this way only telomeric regions are lost during DNA replication
What are telomeres?
are repetitive regions (TTAGGG) at end of chromosomes