DNA Flashcards
Nucleotides
composes each strands. made of a base (A,T,G,C), sugar and phosphate.
The bases
Adenine (A) bonds with Thymine (T) for DNA and Uracil (U) in RNA. Cytosine (C) bonds with Guanine (G).
Bonds (3)
1) phosphodiester bond: the phosphate group of one nucleotide bonds with 2 neighbouring sugars
2) hydrogen bond: 3 bonds between C and G, and 2 bonds between T and A
3) Van der Waals interaction: between each base interaction
DNA
Desoxyribonucleic acid (double strand helix) with opposite orientation 3’-> 5’ and 5’-> 3’
RNA
Ribonucleic acid (single strand) extra OH on the second carbon
pyrimidine
(with 1 ring) C , T , U
purine
(with 2 rings) A , G
semiconservative model
the two created strands each contain one parent strand and one replicated strand
Replication of DNA (steps)
1) site begins at origin of replication (bubbles). specific sequence on nucleotide to start the opening.
2) Proteins recognise this sequence and attach to it, separate the two strands and replicate the DNA in both directions until the entire molecule is copied
topoisomerase
protein, relieve the strain on the parental DNA
helicase
separates the parental DNA in 2
primase
synthesises RNA primer using parental DNA as a template
single-strand binding protein
stabilizes the unwound parental strand
RNA primer
created by primase protein 5-10 nucleotides long. DNA polymerase enzyme recognises the primer and starts adding nucleotides from 3’ -> 5’ direction
leading strand
5’ -> 3’ direction. direction matches the direction of the replication fork
lagging strand
polymerase works against the direction of the replication fork.
Okazaki fragments
on the lagging strand, it is synthesised in a series of fragment
Telomeres
special sequence at the end of DNA with no genetic information.
Since enzymes cannot add nucleotides to the 5’ end of a chain, daughter DNA strands get slightly shorter on the 5’ end with every replication
This sequence prevents for any loss of genetic information
telomerase catalyzes
enzyme used in eukaryotic germ cells for the lengthening of the telomerase
DNA pol III
involved in the synthesis of the leading and lagging strands
DNA pol I
involved in the removal of primers from the fragments and replacing the gap by relevant nucleotides
DNA ligase
joins the end of the fragments together
histones
positively charged protein where the DNA helix is wrapped around
nucleosome
group of 8 histones where DNA is wounded twice
a string forms a 10nm fibres. Different type of histones coils the fibre into a 30 nm fibre.