Chapter 4 Flashcards
DNA characteristics
1) able to store info that pertains to development, structure and metabolic activities of a cell or organism
2) stable so division is possible
Who discovered DNA
James Watson and Francis Crick
nucleotide composition
phosphoric acid (phosphate), pentose sugar, nitrogen containing base
purine
Adenine and guanine, double ring
pyrimidine
thymine and cytosine
what kind of bonds hold the bases together
hydrogen
How many hydrogen bonds do adenine and thymine have
2
How many hydrogen bonds do cytosine and guanine have
3
what is antiparallel
dna strands are oriented in opposite directions
What does DNA polymerase do?
carries out replication by using each original strand to form a complimentary new strand
What are the steps of DNA replication?
- helices unwinds the DNA by braking H-bonds
- new complimentary DNA nucleotides join
- the leading strand follows the enzyme, the lagging strand results in fragments
- DNA ligase connects Okazaki fragments
what is gene expression?
using a gene sequence to synthesize a protein
Where does transcription occur?
in the nucleus
Where does translation occur?
in the cytoplasm in the ribosome
What is transcription?
gene is a template for RNA production
what is a promoter
region of DNA that contains a special sequence of nucleotides
introns
segments of DNA that are NOT the gene
exons
segments of DNA that have genetic material
How does RNA modify genes?
RNA adds a cap (guanine) to one end and a poly A-tail (adenosine) to the other end, then the introns are removed and the exons remain
What is translation?
gene expression leads to protein synthesis
What is a codon?
3 nucleotides
What is degenerate
some proteins can be code for more than one codon, helps prevent mutation
tRNA
a single stranded polynucleotide, has anticodons that are complimentary to mRNA
what is the wobble effect?
for the same tRNAs, the 3rd nucleotide may vary