DNA Replication. Flashcards
Define a cofactor?
An inorganic molecule that is used to help some enzymes to produce their product.
What are many cofactors made out if?
Many cofactors are made of metallic substances.
Define DNA replication?
The process by which each strand DNA is copied to produce 2 identical daughter strands.
What does the letter N mean when it appears in a strand of DNA or RNA?
I stands for any nucleotide.
When does DNA replication take place?
During cell division.
What does DNA replication allow DNA to do?
It allows for DNA to be copied and passed on to future generations.
What occurs during DNA replication?
DNA strands are copied to produce 2 identical daughter strands.
How long does DNA replication take in prokaryotes?
Around 20 minutes.
How long does DNA replication take in eukaryotes?
Up to 24 hours (in yeast it takes around 4 hours).
What is the first step of DNA replication?
The unwinding of the DNA molecule and the separation of the complimentary base pairs.
What enzyme will unwind and separate the base pairs within the DNA molecule?
A helicase.
What happens in DNA replication when the strands have been separated?
An enzyme called DNA polymerase III will read a strand of DNA.
What is the name of the strand that is read by DNA polymerase?
The template strand.
What is the name of the strand that is synthesised by DNA polymerase?
A daughter strand.
What direction is DNA synthesised in?
In the 5 prime to 3 prime direction.
In what direction will DNA polymerase read a DNA strand?
In the 3 prime to 5 prime direction.
What enzyme will DNA polymerase III follow up the DNA molecule?
The helicase.
What are the 2 synthesised DNA strands known as?
The leading strand.
The lagging strand.
Do the DNA polymerases that form the leading and lagging strands move in the same direction?
They both move in the 3 to 5 direction.
But, due to the antiparallel nature of DNA they will move in opposite directions relative to each other.
Will the same enzyme synthesise the leading and lagging strands?
An individual DNA polymerase 3 will synthesise each strand.
Which daughter strand of DNA will contain a fragmented copy of the DNA?
The lagging strand will create a fragmented copy of DNA.
What does DNA polymerase need to bind to, to be able to synthesise DNA?
DNA polymerase III cannot synthesise any DNA unless it finds a free 3 prime hydroxyl group.
What molecules will help to add free 3 prime hydroxyl groups to DNA so that RNA polymerase can read the DNA strand?
A primer.
What is a primer molecule composed of?
They are small sequences of nucleotides that have a free 3 prime hydroxyl group.
What enzyme is responsible for synthesising primers?
RNA primase.
What happens to the DNA fragments on the lagging strand once the DNA has been copied?
DNA polymerase I will remove the primers and fill in the gaps between the DNA fragments.
What is created when DNA polymerase I removes the primers on the lagging strand?
Okazaki fragments.
What elements of the primers will DNA polymerase I leave behind when it forms Okazaki fragments?
A phosphate and hydroxyl group at the beginning and end of each new sequence of DNA.
How are the Okazaki fragments removed from the lagging strand?
B an enzyme called DNA ligase.
Which DNA strand is synthesised into a continuous strand of DNA?
The leading strand.
Who suggested that DNA must have a copy system?
Watson and Crick.
What are the 3 theories of DNA replication that scientists came up with?
The dispersive DNA replication.
The semi-conservative model.
The conservative model.
What is the dispersive model of DNA replication?
That a DNA strand is broken into many small pieces.
These small pieces are copied and re-assembled to create a new strand that is made up of old and new DNA.
What is the semi conservative model of DNA replication?
That the DNA strand opens up and each individual strand acts as a template to produce 2 new daughter strands.
What is the conservative model of DNA replication?
That nothing happens to the double stranded DNA molecule as a new strand is copied from it.
What is the correct model of DNA replication?
The semi-conservative model.
Which scientists proved that the semi conservative model was the correct model of replication and when?
Meselson and Stahl. In 1958.
What did Meselson and Stahl use in their experiment to prove the semi conservative model of replication was true?
E.Coli bacteria that had been cultured in a medium containing ammonium chloride.
What form of ammonium chloride did Meselson and Stahl use when culturing their E.coli for the 1st time?
One with a heavy isotope of nitrogen.
Why did Meselson and Stahl use a heavy isotope of nitrogen in their ammonia when culturing their E.coli?
So they could identify it in the new DNA strands of newly formed E.coli.
What happened to the E.coli once they had been cultured in the ammonia containing the heavy isotope of nitrogen during Meselson and Stahls experiment?
They were transferred to a medium containing a lighter isotope of nitrogen and left in for 20 minutes so that 1 cell division could take place.
What happened to the E.coli in Meselson and Stahls experiment after it had been cultured in the medium containing the lighter isotope of nitrogen?
Samples were collected and centrifuged so that the density of the DNA could be measured.
What did Meselson and Stahls find after they centrifuged the E.coli that had performed 1 cell division?
That the DNA had formed 1 density band, showing that the light and heavy DNA had mixed together to form a hybrid.
Which model was disproved after Meselson and Stahls centrifuged the E.coli that had performed 1 cell division?
The conservative model.
Why was the conservative model disproved after centrifugation of the E.coli that had performed 1 cell division Meselson and Stahls experiment?
Because 2 density bands should have been visible after 1 division.
1 density band representing the heavier parent strands and 1 strand representing the lighter daughter strands.
Why would 2 bands be visible after 1 division of E.Coli in Meselson and Stahls experiment?
Because the heavy parent strands would have to use the lighter nitrogen to make the daughter strands, resulting in 2 bands.
Why would the daughter strands in Meselson and Stahls experiment be made of lighter nitrogen?
Because they could only be made from lighter nitrogen as they were produced in the lighter solution.
What models could be true after Meselson and Stahl allowed their E.coli to perform 1 cell division?
The semi-conservative and dispersive models.
Why would the conservative and dispersive models only produce 1 density band after 1 cell division had been performed?
As they would use both the light and heavy nitrogen to create 2 different hybrid DNA molecules.
What experiment did Meselson and Stahl perform to determine whether the dispersive model or semi-conservative model was true once the conservative model had been ruled out?
They left the E.Coli in the lighter medium for 40 minutes so they could perform 2 cell divisions.
After centrifugation, 2 distinct density bands had been formed.
What isotopes were represented in the 2 density bands that were formed in the 2nd step of Meselson and Stahls experiment?
One band was coated with both isotopes.
The other was only coated with the lighter isotope.
What model did the 2 density bands formed in the 2nd step of Meselson and Stahls experiment disprove?
The dispersive model.
Why was the dispersive model disproved in the 2nd step of Meselson and Stahls experiment?
If it were true then both density bands would contain both isotopes.
Why would each of the 2 bands formed in the 2nd step of Meselson and Stahls experiment contain both isotopes if the dispersive model were true?
As the older heavier DNA would have been broken up and re-used creating a DNA strand with both heavy and light isotopes in it.
What happened to the DNA during the first step of Meselson and Stahls experiment?
The heavy strands were copied and each produced a daughter strand made of light nitrogen.
This created 2 DNA molecules each consisting of 1 heavy strand and 1 light strand.
Which of the 2 DNA molecules had been coated with which isotope in the 2nd step of Meselson and Stahls experiment?
The 2 original strands were coated with the heavy isotopes.
The copied strands were coated with lighter isotopes.
What happened to the DNA during the second step of Meselson and Stahls experiment?
In the 2nd division light nitrogen was used to create new DNA molecules.
How does the 2 bands formed in the 2nd step of Meselson and Stahls experiment explain that the semi conservative model was true?
Because 1 band is represented by the 2 DNA molecules formed in the 1st division and contained heavy and light strands.
And the other band was created by the 2 DNA molecules formed in the 2nd division and contained only light strands.
Who was responsible for identifying and researching the enzymes responsible for DNA replication?
Arthur Kornberg.
What is the most important enzyme in DNA replication?
DNA polymerase. DNA is always synthesised from the 5 prime end, ending with the 3 prime end, meaning that DNA polymerase must read the parent strand in the 3 prime to 5 prime direction.