DNA Manipulation (13.1) Flashcards
State what the PCR technique is used for
DNA amplification
Describe gel electrophoresis
Method used to separate and visualise nucleic acids and proteins according to their size
State what process DNA amplification uses to create a large quantity of DNA
PCR
State what PCR stands for
Polymerase Chain Reaction
State what DNA amplification enables
The rapid and accurate replication of target DNA
Describe ‘target DNA’
Particular region of a DNA molecule intended to be manipulated/studied
State what PCR is based on
The action of polymerases
Describe polymerases
Enzymes that catalyse the formation of polymers in nucleic acids
State the 2 different different groups of polymerases
- DNA polymerase
2. RNA polymerase
State the function of DNA polymerase
Acts to assemble DNA
State what polymerases can be classified as
Enzymes
Provide 2 examples of target DNA
- Specific gene
2. Microsatellite
Describe microsatellite
Short repeated sequence of nucleotides found at a defined locus on a chromosome.
State what makes microsatellites useful for DNA profiling
Variation in the number of repeats between individuals
State what the DNA polymerase enzyme uses as a template for building a new DNA strand
Each strand of the DNA double helix
State what each double stranded DNA copy is identical to
The original DNA strand
State what enzyme is involved in the unzipping of double helix of DNA
Helicase enzymes
Describe the function of primers
Determine the start and end points of a nucleotide sequence to be amplified
State why primers are so critical for the function of DNA polymerase
DNA polymerase can only attach to the end of a nucleotide chain that is base paired with the template strand
Describe taq polymerase
Thermostable DNA polymerase that is most commonly used in PCR
State from where taq polymerase was sought
Thermophilic bacteria
Describe the function of RNA polymerase
Acts to assemble RNA
State what RNA polymerase synthesises in cells
mRNA, rRNA and tRNA
State how RNA polymerase synthesises RNA strands in cells
Transcription of genes
State whether or not RNA polymerase requires a primer to anneal to the DNA template strand to start synthesis
No.
State until when RNA polymerase adds nucleotides
STOP codon is reached
State whether RNA polymerase or DNA polymerase functions faster
RNA polymerase works much more slowly
Describe reverse transcriptase
DNA polymerase that synthesises single-stranded DNA using single-stranded RNA as a template
State what the function of reverse transcriptase is the reverse of
The usual transcription process in which DNA is transcribed into RNA
State what reverse transcriptase is used to produce
DNA molecules that can be amplified by PCR for further analysis
State what reverse transcriptase is also used to make and from what
Complementary DNA (cDNA) from mRNA
State whether or not complementary DNA produced by reverse transcriptase includes or does not include introns
Introns are sliced out. Therefore, does not include.
State what PCR is a method of
Amplifying specific target sequences of DNA
State whether or not taq polymerase is used in the PCR method
Yes.