Chapter 7: The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein: DNA intro Flashcards
What is the central dogma of biology?
- genetic info flows from DNA to RNA to protein, or RNA to protein
What is genetics the study of?
- heredity
What is molecular biology?
- the science dealing with NA and protein sysnthesis
What is a genome?
- the total DNA contained in the cell
What does the genome consist of? (2)
- chromosomes and any plasmids
What do chromosomes contain?
- genes
What are genes?
- sections of DNA that code for a functional product
What is DNA?
a macromolecule made of nucleotides
Each DNA nucleotide consists of? (3)
- nitrogenous base (ATGC)
- sugar (deoxyribose, labelled 1’ to 5’)
- phosphate
How is DNA in a double helix shape?
- two strands held together by hydrogen bonds between bases
- note base pairing rule (A to T, G to C)
How is DNA in a double helix shape? (3)
- two strands held together by hydrogen bonds between bases
- note base pairing rule (A to T, G to C)
- antiparallel
Strands of DNA are complementary, which means what?
- sequence of one strand determines the sequence of the other
Who discovered the double helix shape?
Watson and Crick
The nucleotides in DNA are held together by what type of bonds?
- phosphodiester bonds
How do the nucleotides of DNA join togethr?
- 5’ carbon of one nucleotide is joined to a 3’ carbon of the next nucleotide, with a phosphate between them
What direction do we usually consider DNA?
5’ to 3’ direction
- starting at 5’ end
- finishing at 3’ end
What direction is the leading strand of DNA?
- 5’ to 3’
What direction is the lagging strand of DNA?
3’ to 5’
What order is the flow of genetic information?
- replication
- Gene expression
- Recombination
What occurs in replication?
- DNA is copied before cell division
What occurs in gene expression?
- DNA is used to make proteins
What occurs in recombination?
- DNA can flow between two different bacterial cells
