DNA (pp.4-8, handout 4) Flashcards
purines
Type of nitrogenous base with a double ring found in DNA and RNA
Guanine and Adenine
GAPUR
pyrimidines
Type of nitrogenous base with a single ring found in DNA and RNA
cytosine and thymine
PYRCT
DNA
deoxyribonucleic acid.
- the central dogma of genetics is that all genes are made of DNA
base pairs
adenine and thymine (DNA) / adenine and uracil (RNA) (2 hydrogen bonds)
guanine and cytosine (DNA) (3 hydrogen bonds)
RNA
ribonucleic acid.
right-handed helix
In a right-handed helix, as the observer looks down, the helix axis (in either direction), each strand turns clockwise as it moves away from the observer
one turn is 34 angstrom and has 10 base pairs
Nucleotides contain…
1) a phosphate group
2) pentose (five-carbon sugar)
3) nitrogen-containing base
What is the pentose for DNA
deoxyribose
B-form
The normal form of the DNA double helix, as originally described by Watson and Crick
- aqueous environments with low salt concentrations
What is the pentose of RNA
ribose
What are the nitrogenous bases
adenine and thymine (corresponds with DNA)
guanine and cytosine (corresponds with DNA)
uracil (corresponds with RNA)
A-form
An alternative form of the double helix, with 11 base pairs per turn, often found for double-stranded RNA, but rarely for DNA
found in DNA in high salt environments
Z-form
An alternative form of double helix with left-handed turns and 12 base pairs per turn. Both DNA and dsRNA may be found in the Z-form
occurs when proteins bind to DNA and create a zig-zagged phosphate backbone
What is a phosphodiester bond
how phosphate connects to sugars. connect the nucleotides into a chain that runs in the 5’ to 3’ direction.
5’ -OH of one nucleotide’s sugar is linked to a phosphate group by an oxygen. The 3’ -OH of the next nucleotide’s sugar is linked to the other side of the phosphate.
DNA double helix
TEAMROSALIND
most stable structure: when one single strand of nucleotides aligns with another strand to form a double stranded molecule.
supercoiling
Higher level coiling of DNA that is already a double helix.
The DNA is twisted in a left-handed direction containing around 200 nucleotides per supercoil. The supercoils then forms loops and connects to a protein scaffold.
performed by DNA gyrase.
DNA Gyrase
An enzyme that introduces negative (left-handed) supercoils into DNA, a member of the type II topoisomerase family
the only one that can do negative coils…..#biologyissocool
antiparallel
as each base forms H-bonds with another base in the other strand, the strands run in opposite directions to each other
5’ ———————- 3’
3’ ———————- 5’
restriction enzymes
(also known as restriction endonucleases) allows DNA to be cut and rejoined in predictable ways
antisense strand
one of the strands in DNA that contains the complementary sequence to the strand and to the mRNA transcript generated from the gene
the non-coding DNA strand of a gene, serves as the template for producing messenger RNA (mRNA), which directs the synthesis of a protein.
sense strand
the strand of DNA that reads as the code for the expressed genes
topoisomerase I
Enzyme that alters the level of supercoiling or catenation of DNA (i.e., changes the topological conformation) - removes extra super coils
polymer
molecular chain of building blocks stitched from end to end
histones
DNA is supercoiled and wrapped around the histones so that everything ‘fits’
Special positively charged protein that binds to DNA (neutralizes negatively charged phosphate) and helps to maintain the structure of chromosomes in eukaryotes
eukaryotic (plant and animal) DNA is too complex for just supercoiling.
tails stick out of nucleosomes to assist in regulation
in regions of dna expression, histones roam freely