Exam 1 Flashcards
define plasmid
extrachromosomal, double stranded, usually circular, supercoiled DNA molecules. found in many bacterial species independent of chromosome
how to balance centrifuge
center of mass must be in the middle of the rotor. tubes should all be the same mass (same volume). place tubes evenly around the centrifuge.
even numbers place opposite each other in groups of two. odd number, place 3 in an even triangle
only numbers that CANT be balanced are 1 and 1 less than the number of spaces.
standard lab plasticware
microcentrifuge tubes, 0.5, 1.5, and 2 ml
PCR tubes, 0.2 ml
96 well plates, standard 8x12 layout
general types of pipettes
automatic pipettes transfer small liquid volumes accurately
glass pipettes are not accurate for volumes <1 ml
continuously adjustable digital pipettes, each can be set to transfer any volume within its own volume range
for optimal reproducibility in pipetting
- Consistent speed and smoothness when pressing/releasing plunger
- Consistent pressure on plunger at first stop
- Consisten and sufficient immersion depth
- Nearly vertical positioning of pipette
- Avoid all air bubbles
- Never lay the pipette on its side or invert the pipette if liquid is in the tip
types of pipette tips (attachment systems)
Conical: oldest, most common, shaft wedges into tip held on by friction
LTS: less common, more expensive, cylindrical shaft has better seal and low ejection force
ClipTip: proprietary but not much more expensive, tips firmly attach with better seal and low ejection force
explain filter tips
pipettes can be contaminated by aerosols from the sample. filtered tips prevent contamination and are a good idea when low levels of contamination may be a problem (eg PCR)
pipette tip sizes
2.5 and 10 (red)
20, 100, and 200 (yellow)
1000 (blue)
what are multichannel pipettes
pipettes with a row of tips. good for high throughput work
what are positive displacement pipettes
piston is integrated into the tip and there is no dead air space and so no contamination issues. they are more accurate and have no issues with capillary action. they are not very common
(typical pipette is an air displacement pipette)
state the nucleic acids
Purines: Adenine and Guanine
Pyrimidines: Cytosine, Thymine, Uracil
Deoxyribose refers to the lack of OH on C2
Ribose has an OH on C2
naming of free bases vs a ribose attached base
Free Base: -ine. Adenine, guanine, cytocine, thymine
attached base w/ no phosphate (ribonucleoside). Adenosine, guanosine, cytidine, thymidine
attached base w/ phosphate(ribonucleotide). adenylate, guanylate, cytidylate, thymidylate
how are nucleic acids linked
phosphodiester bond between 3’ carbon and 5’ phosphate
why do As match with Ts and Gs with Cs?
H bonding between the structures is complimentary. Purines (2 ringed) match with pyrimidines (1 ringed) to make a 3 ringed structure
A and T make 2 H bonds
G and C make 3 H bonds
2 main differences between DNA and RNA
uracil (RNA) and thymine (DNA)
2’OH on ribose (RNA) and 2’H on deoxyribose (DNA)
factors that affect complimentary strands interacting
complimentary strands form by hybridization (annealing) and this can be increased with high salt and low temperature.
Opposite is denaturation (melting) and can be increased with low salt and high temperature
review the important unit conversions
milli - 10^-3
micro - 10^-6
nano - 10^-9
pico - 10^-12
average weight of a DNA basepair
650 daltons
daltons is g/mol
how to quantify DNA via absorbance of UV light
aromatic bases have absorbance maximum at around 260 nanometers.
1.0 A260 = DNA concentration of 50 micrograms per ml (double stranded DNA) or 38 micrograms per ml (single stranded DNA/RNA)
instruments that quantify DNA
spectrophotometer and nanodrop
works by a fiber optic cable in measurement arm
conditions of DNA quantification via UV absorption
effective range is narrow: A260 from 0.05 to 2.0, which is DNA concentrations from 2.5 to 100 micrograms/ml
sample must be very pure for accurate measurements as stuff can absorb at 260 nm (RNA, EDTA, phenol
how can concentration be determined by absorbance?
DNA has molar extinction coefficient, use in Beer-Lambert law: I = Io10-Edc (just look it up). amount of light that gets through depends on what’s in it and how much of it there is
Basically multiply A260 by 50 because 1 A = 50 micrograms/ml DNA
what is A260/A280
nucleic acids absorb at 260 and proteins at 280. the ratio of absorbances at these wavelengths is used as a measure of purity. ratio of 1.8 is accepted as pure for DNA and ratio of 2 is pure for RNA. low values indicate protein contamination
what do abnormal high or low 260/280 ratios indicate?
usually indicate sample is contaminated by protein or reagent such as phenol or an issue with measurement.
low ratio is caused by residual phenol/other extraction reagent or a low concentration
high ratio is not an issue
what is A230 and 260/230 ratios
the result of other contamination, generally organic solvents. 260/230 ratios in range of 2.0-2.2 are pure for nucleic acids
why is contamination a problem in DNA quantification
may result in an overestimation of the nucleic acid concentration and negatively influence downstream analysis
how to identify contamination in DNA quantification
look at 260/230 ratio: a low ratio may be result of contaminant absorbing at 230 nm
look at 260/280 ratio: a low ratio may be result of contaminant absorbing at 280 nm
wavelength of the trough in sample spectrum should be at 230 nm
wavelength of the peak in sample spectrum should be 260 nm
what do abnormal high or low 260/230 ratios indicate?
low 260/230 ratios may be result of: carbohydrate carryover, residual phenol, residual guanidine, glycogen
high 260/230 ratio may be result of making a blank measurement on a dirty pedestal, using an inappropriate solution for the blank measurement (one that is not similar to the sample solution)
describe quantification in practice
measure concentration after cleanup. blank the spectrophotometer using the same solution the DNA is in. measure OD at 230, 260, and 280 nm. Use OD260 to calculate concentration and use ratios to asses purity
describe fluorometry
protein and nucleic acids can be quantified using a fluorescent dye which binds. A higher emission correlates to higher concentration. it is more sensitive, effective over a wider range, but more labor intensive and expensive.
The dyes are SPECIFIC and so do not show contaminations or other molecules
what are restriction endonucleases
enzymes which cleave within the DNA strand at a specific site. they work by hydrating the phosphodiester bond and then the H bonds are not sufficient to hold the strands together
How are REs site specific
They cut on axis of symmetry, most often a palindrome
types of REs
Type I: cuts a distant site, not very useful or important
Type II: cuts in/near recognition site. This is the common and useful type
Type III: non palindromic, not super useful
Type IV: recognizes modified DNA
Type V: uses RNA guide (CRISPR)
explain sticky vs blunt ends
sticky ends have an overhand that can be used to pair with another compatible strand. blunt is just a solid cut off, no overhangs
how often will a RE cut DNA molecule? average fragment length if you toss a RE at an unknown DNA sequence
depends on the length of the cutter. 4 to the power of the length, eg a 4 bp cutter will cut every 256 base pairs and average fragment length would be 256.
But sequences are not distributed randomly so this is unlikely to actually be true. Use a restriction mapper on a known sequence to see how many cut sites there are
ingredients in restriction digest
Pure water Buffer - control pH and contain salt DNA that you want to cut Bovine serum albumin - stabilizing agent Restriction Enzyme - stored in glycerol to preserve/stabilize. should not exceed 10% of total rxn volume
How much DNA will 1 unit of RE digest in 1 hour
1 unit of RE will digest 1 µg of DNA in a 50 µL reaction in 1 hour.
can use enzyme:DNA:reaction volume ratio when designing reaction. Typical conditions are a 10 fold overdigestion so like 10 Units of RE and 1 µg DNA
how do you stop a restriction digest reaction
use a buffer containing EDTA which chelates cations needed by enzyme for the reaction
heat inactivate enzyme by raising to 65 or 85 C
use phenol/choroform extraction or column clean up, precipitates
what is a double digest
cleaving DNA with two different enzymes at the same time. careful which combinations you use, some are not recommended. use buffer that has most activity for each enzyme
what is star activity
relaxed or altered specificity, the RE cuts outside of its usual sequence