Chapter 4 terms Flashcards
nucleic acid
polymers of nucleotides; polynucleotides
nucleotides
monomers of nucleic acids
DNA
deoxyribonucleic acid; deoxyribose
what is the main function of DNA
store and transmit biological information
what is the structure of DNA
double helix
how does the double helix strand work in DNA
2 strands; alternating sugar-phosphate backbone; hydrophobic interactions between bases
what bonds are associated with DNA
hydrogen
What are the base pairs for DNA
A,T,C,G
RNA
ribonucleic acid; ribose
what is the main function of RNA
protein synthesis
what is the structure of RNA
hairpin
how does the hairpin structure work in RNA
1 strand; unpaired region forms a loop while antiparallel base paring forms double helix
what are the nitrogenous bases of RNA
A,U,C,G
what are the nitrogenous bases
A,T,U,C,G
nucleoside
nucleotide without phosphate group
how are nucleotides bonded
by phosphodiester linkages
what are the nucleotide components
- phosphate group
- 5 carbon sugar
- nitrogenous base
what bond hold together nitrogenous bases
hydrogen bonds
semi conservative model
way DNA replicates; each strand of an existing DNA serves as a template for DNA replication
transcription
translates DNA to RNA
translation
RNA into protein
mRNA
messenger RNA; controls protein synthesis
tRNA
transfer RNA; carries a specific amino acid
what are pyrimidines
U, T, and C
what are purines
A and G
what and who discovered x-ray crystallography
way to measure the distance between atoms in DNA; Rosalind Franklin and Maruice Wilkins
why was Erwin Chargaff important
discovered that number of purines=number of pyrimidines
what did James Watson and Francis Crick discover
- 2 strands held together by hydrogen bonds
- complementary base pairing
- double helix
- 3’prime-5’prime and 5’prime-3’prime (antiparallel)
what makes up the double helix strcuture
- nitrogenous base pairs face interior
- sugar phosphate backbone faces exterior
what does antiparallel mean in DNA
form the ladder sides rows of the DNA; how DNA structure is put together
5’prime
phosphate group; direction; end of nucleic acid
3’prime
hydroxyl group; new nucleotides are added to unlinked 3’
template strand
strand of RNA or DNA used to make a new, complementary strand
complementary strand
phosphodiester linkages form to create a new strand
what are the two types of distance between helix twists
- major groove
- minor groove
which groove is the largest distance between twists
major grove
which groove has the smallest distance between twists
minor groove
how does the flow of information work in a eukaryotic cell
DNA (nucleolus)—> mRNA (nucleolus and cytoplasm)—> protein synthesis (ribosome)—>polypeptides and amino acids
what is DNA ligase
an enzyme that joins pieces of DNA by catalyzing the formation of phosphodiester linkage between pieces of DNA
What is DNA polymerase
any type of enzyme that catalyzes synthesis of DNA
