Chapter 8: The Molecular Basis of Inheritance Flashcards
DNA
-makes up chromosomes which have genes at specific loci
protein as the heritable factor
- proteins are a major component of all cells
- complex macromolecules with lots of variety and specificity of function
- know a lot about structure of protein
Griffith (1927)
- some strains streptococcus pneumoniae are virulent, others are harmless
- discovered transformation: bacteria have the ability to transform harmless cells into virulent ones by transferring some genetic factor
Avery, MacLeod, McCarty (1944)
-identified Griffith’s transforming factor as DNA
Hershey and Chase (1952)
- tagged bacteriophages with radioactive phosphorous and sulfur
- proteins contain sulfur, but no phosphorous
- DNA contains phosphorous and no sulfur
- phosphorous labeled DNA of phages while S labeled protein coat
- radioactive P always entered bacteria when infected, so DNA from the viral nucleus was the genetic material
Rosalind Franklin (1950-53)
-carried X-ray crystallography analysis of DNA that showed the helix structure
Watson and Crick (1953)
-proposed the double helix structure of DNA using Erwin Chargaff’s Rule (equal amounts of C and G, A and T because of 1:1 pairing) and Franklin’s research
Meselson and Stahl (1958)
- proved that replication was in a semiconservative fashion
- cultured bacteria in heavy N and then in light N, bacteria were then spun in a centrifuge and found to be in between heavy and light bacteria (one heavy and one light strand)
purines
A, G
pyrimidines
C,T
structure of DNA
- double helix with two antiparallel strands (one runs 3’ to 5’, other 5’ to 3’)
- deoxyribose, phosphate group, and nitrogenous base
- nitrogenous bases of opposite strands form hydrogen bonds (A and T form double hydrogen bond, C and G form triple hydrogen bond)
chromatin
-DNA packed with histones (protein) during replication
nucleosome
-formed when double helix DNA wraps twice around a core of histones
RNA
-single stranded helix with A,G,C,U and ribose
semiconservative model
-each strand of DNA serves as a template for the formation of new strand of DNA
origin of replication
-where replication begins by the separation of the strands of DNA, creating a replication bubble
replication bubble
- speed up replication
- expands as replication occurs in both directions at once
replication fork
-Y-shaped region where new strands of DNA are elongating
DNA polymerase
-catalyzes the antiparallel elongation of new DNA strands by adding nucleotides to the 3’ end of the chain (so the strand is built from the 5’ to 3’ direction)
RNA primer
-short nucleotide sequence that initates synthesis
primase
-enzyme that makes the primer
leading strand
-formed towards the replication fork in an unbroken, linear fashion
lagging strand
-forms away from the replication fork with Okazaki fragments
Okazaki fragments
-eventually joined by DNA ligase to make one continuous strand
helicase
-enzymes that untwist the double helix at the replication fork
-topoimerase
-lessen the tension on the tightly wound helix
single-stranded binding proteins
-hold two unwound strands appart
mismatch repiar
-proofreading that corrects errors
DNA nuclease
-excises damaged regions of DNA
telomeres
-protective nonsense nucleotide sequence ends that prevent nucleotides at the end of chromosomes from being lost every time DNA replicates (no genes lost)
telomerase
-creates and maintains telomeres
codon
triplet code of mRNA
DNA to protein
-process of transcribing information in the DNA sequence into a complementary RNA sequence in the nucleus, leading to the RNA being translated into an amino acid sequence (polypeptide) in the cytoplasm at the ribosome
pre-RNA
RNA before processing
anitcodon
3 nucleotide sequence of tRNA that is complementary to the mRNA
mRNA
holds genetic info for protein, complementary to DNA
rRNA
makes up the ribosome with other proteins
ribosome structure
- on large subunit, one small subunit
- one mRNA binding site
- 3 tRNA binding sites (A,P,E)
tRNA
- one amino acid attachment site
- one mRNA binding site, with the tRNA anticodon
transcription
DNA –> RNA
- initiation
- elongation
- termination