chapter 6-molecular genetics Flashcards
Central Dogma
the transmission of information through DNA, RNA, and proteins
DNA’s full name
deoxyribonucleic acid
what is the basic unit of DNA
nucleotide
what is a nucleotide made of
of deoxyribose ( a sugar) bonded to both a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base
compare purine and pyrimidines
1) Purines: adenine, guanine
- larger bc 2 ring bases
2) Pyrimidines: cytosine, thymine, uracil
describe the structure of DNA
- double-stranded helices of complementary strands with the sugar-phosphate chains on the outside of the helix and the nitrogenous bases on the inside
- These strands are held together by H bonds between the bases oriented towards the centre
- Purines bind with pyrimidines linking the polynuclotide chains
- One strand of DNA has its 5’ end points up and the other has its 3’ end pointing up = antiparallel arrangement
what holds the 2 strands of DNA together
H bonds
what does DNA helicase do
breaks the H bonds between the N bases separating the 2 strands
what is a replication fork
opening in the DNA mc created by DNA helicase
what does topoisomerase do
removes the torsional strain caused by the twisting of DNA as the replication fork travels upstream of the DNA mc
- it cuts, twists and rejoins the strands
what is a replication bubble
area where the replication fork has passed a portion of DNA and the 2 strands are separated
what is semiconservative replication
a new daughter helix contains an intact strand from the parent helix and a newly synthesized strand
how are the daughter strands formed during DNA replication ( which enzyme)
DNA polymerase
what does DNA polymerase do
reads the parent strand and creates a complementary antiparallel daughter strands
which way does DNA polymerase read the parent strand? what end does it add nucleotides to?
Reads in the 3’-5’ creating a new daughter strand in a 5’-3’ direction only adding nucleotides to the 3’ end
what is the leading strand
it has its 3’ end facing towards from the replication fork allowing DNA polymerase, DNA synthesis and replication to travel in the same direction and is continuously synthesized
what is the lagging strand
has its 3’ end facing away from the replication fork
- synthesis and replication fork move in opposite direction
Okazaki fragments
short fragments synthesized due to the discontinuous synthesis
what is a gene
a unit of DNA that encodes a specific RNA mc through the process of transcription and through translation that gene ca be expressed as a protein
what is transcription
process in which genetic information is passed from DNA to RNA
what direction is mRNA transcribed
5’-3’ direction and is complementary and antiparallel to the DNA template strand
what is translation
the process in which genetic information is passed from mRNA to protein
- converts the N base message of mRNA to the amino acid language of proteins
what direction is the mRNA translated and protein synthesized
ribosome translates the mRNA in the 5’-3’ direction and the protein is synthesized from the amino terminus (N terminus) to the carboxyl terminus (C terminus)
what is RNA
ribonucleic acid- a polynucleotide
structure of RNA is different than DNA how
1) the sugar constituent is ribosome (instead of deoxyribose)
2) uracil is used in place of thiamine
3) most RNA is single-stranded
where is RNA found
nucleus and the cytoplasm
function of mRNA
carries the complement of a DNA sequence then transports this information from the nucleus to the ribosome for protein synthesis
monocistronic
one mRNA strand is coded for one polypeptide
what is tRNA
small RNA mc found in the cytoplasm
function of tRNA
assists in the translation of mRNA nucleotide code into a sequence of amino acids by brining the amino acids coded for in the mRNA sequence to the ribosomes during proteins synthesis
how is an aminoacyl-tRNA complex formed
each a.a has its own aminoacyl-tRNA which has an active site that binds to both the amino acid and its its corresponding tRNA and it catalyzes their attachment to form the complex
what is a charged tRNA
when a tRNA is complexed with the appropriate amino acid
how many tRNA’s are there
~40
how many tRNA are there for each a.a
at least 1
what RNA type is most abundant
rRNA
where is rRNA synthesized in Euk and Prok.
in the nucleolus ( Euk) and cytoplasm ( prok)
function of rRNA
-Important part of the ribosomal machinery used during protein assembly in the cytoplasm
the most common promoter region in Euk and Prok during transcription
TATA box ( TATAAT) - ~30bp upstream AND Pribnow box ( TTGAGA) - ~10bp upstream
steps of transcription
1) RNA polymerase binds to the DNA template strand at a promoter region ( short DNA sequence) found upstream from the site where transcription of a specific RNA is going to take place
2) RNA polymerase surrounds the DNA mc after it has been opened by the actions of DNA helicase and topoisomerase ( all so RNA polymerase can bind to the promotor site)
3) Once RNA polymerase is bound to the template DNA strand it recruits and add complementary RNA nucleotides = transcribing a new RNA strand
- Reads DNA in 3’ end and creates a new daughter strand in the 5’-3’ end
4) RNA sequence is complementary to the original DNA sequence except A binds to U
how does RNA leave the nucleus after post-transcriptional modification
through nuclear pores
what are introns
extra nucleotides not necessary to create the corresponding protein and are spliced out by splicosomes
what are exons
nucleotides necessary to make the protein and are kept during the post transcriptional processing