Exam 2 Flashcards
Where is prokaryotic DNA found?
Within the nucleoid
Prokaryotic DNA is not…
confined by a membrane
How does prokaryotic DNA fit inside the cell?
Supercoiling
What is DNA?
polymer of dNTP’s
4 dNTP’s
dATP, dTTP, dGTP, dCTP
What does mature prokaryotic DNA look like?
Circular, don’t have ends
How are DNA strands held together?
H bonds
A-T
2 H bonds
G-C
3 H bonds
Purines
A and G
Pyrimidines
C, U (found in RNA), T
What makes DNA stable?
Double stranded character contributes to stability and integrity. Also does not have #2 OH group like RNA does, making it more stable than RNA
What do replication intermediates look like?
Not circular yet, often do have ends
Characterize RNA
Single stranded molecule, polymer of NTP’s (ribose), 5’ triphosphate end, 3’ OH end.
RNA strands often have…
Complex folded structures Ex) tRNA
Translocation direction
3’ to 5’
Which molecule translocates across DNA?
DNA Polymerase
Is DNA replication dependent on a template?
Yes - both parent strands have new daughter strands synthesized simultaneously
What happens to the phosphates during DNA replication?
Pyrophosphates (Pi) are released and can be reused in other cellular processes. Pyrophosphate = beta and gamma phosphates (the ones not directly attached to 5’ carbon of incoming dNTP)
What does DNA replication reaction rely on?
The cleavage of the bond between the alpha and beta phosphates - this allows for the addition of nucleotides and release of pyrophosphate
How does this DNA replication reaction occur?
3’ OH (hydroxyl group) attacks the alpha phosphate of the incoming dNTP, causing release of pyrophosphate RNA polymerase basically catalyzes the same basic reaction (except uses NTP’s, not dNTP’s)
How are dNTP’s held together in the DNA molecule?
Phosphodiester bonds (backbone becomes negatively charged due to the phosphate backbone being formed)
How is the DNA replication reaction fueled?
The energy stored in the bond between alpha and beta phosphate group is released, which drives the enzymatic reaction forward.
What is theta replication?
DNA synthesis occurring on a circular DNA molecule (since it looks like a theta); theta replication is a consequence of starting on a circular template
What two sites are important on the bacterial chromosome?
oriC (initiation) and ter (termination)
Where are oriC and oriT located?
Roughly 180º away from each other on the bacterial chromosome
Can initiation of DNA synthesis occur at different sites?
No: initiation always occurs at a single site on the bacterial chromosome (always at oriC)
Which direction is DNA synthesis occurring in on the bacterial circular chromosome?
Both directions –> bidirectional
How many base pairs are in the oriC sequence?
Roughly 250 bp
How many replication forks form during theta replication?
2 replication forks since DNA synthesis is bidirectional
Where is 9-mer found in the DNA?
Found in oriC of bacterial chromosome; found in multiple copies; also called DnaA boxes
What happens when DnaA-ATP binds to DNA?
DnaA-ATP will bind to 9-mer/DNA box regions within the oriC region; multiple DnaA-ATP complexes will bind to DnaA boxes; when there are enough DNA-A ATP bound it distorts the A-T rich 13-mer sequence upstream of 9-mer sequence; distortion causes strands to separate and form single strands where other replication proteins can load onto DNA
What three components are critical for setting up the replication fork?
Primase, DNA helicase (DnaB) and DNA helicase loader (DnaC)
What is characteristic of DnaA boxes?
A-T rich regions with low amounts of H bonding that can easily be broken
Can DnaA-ATP hydrolyze ATP?
Yes; can hydrolyze ATP to ADP
Where is 13-mer located?
Within oriC; adjacent to DnaA-ATP binding sites
When is DnaA-ATP concentration lowest in the bacterial cell? When is highest?
DnaA-ATP is lowest directly after DNA replication; highest when cell is ready to replicate DNA and is ready to divide Timing of initiation is determined by [DnaA-ATP] (activated DnaA); has a very high affinity for DnaA boxes in oriC
Replication occurs at a replication fork using:
DNA pol (DNA pol III) Primase Helicase SSB
Where is DNA pol III found?
It is the main replication polymerase found in all bacteria.
What is the role of primase?
Primase synthesizes short RNA primers that are necessary during DNA replication; DNA pol III cannot catalyze reaction unless a free 3’OH is present, but RNA pol can —> uses primase instead of RNA polymerase
Leading strand:
DNA synthesis is done continuously as the direction that DNA is separating allows DNA pol III to trans locate 3’ to 5’ as DNA is being melted
Lagging strand:
DNA synthesis is occurring discontinuously. 3’ to 5’ translocation is occurring in the opposite direction as the DNA is being unwound. Okazaki fragments (short patches of DNA) must be made as the DNA is unwound —> requires multiple RNA primers laid down by Primase
What is the role of helicase?
Unwinds dsDNA further at the replication fork
What is SSB?
Single-strand Binding Protein —> helps to stabilize the ssDNA and helps to keep the strands apart so that replication enzymes can act
Can DNA synthesis occur without RNA primers?
NO —> RNA primers are necessary; at the beginning of each new strand, there will always be a short RNA primer that serves as the starting point for making a new DNA strand
How can we describe the symmetry of DNA strands at the replication form?
The process has ASYMMETRY; leads to different leading/lagging strand DNA pol III enzymes in some prokaryotes/many eukaryotes
Which strand does DNA Pol III synthesize? Leading or lagging?
BOTH —> DNA Pol III is used for DNA synthesis in both leading and lagging strands in most bacteria
Why is the RNA primer used?
It provides a free 3’ OH group that DNA Pol III can use to attach a dNTP to start building nucleic acid
Can RNA polymerase initiate synthesis without an existing 3’OH end?
Yes! RNA Polymerases can take 2 NTP’s and attach them together to make the first phosphodiester bond in an RNA molecule In contrast, DNA Pol III cannot do this.
What is found at each replication fork?
2 copies of DNA Pol III 1 helicase 1 primase
Where do helicase and primase bind to after DNA is “kinked” by DnaA-ATP?
They bind to lagging strand template. They then enable the assembly of other proteins that have to accompany replication fork —> forms active replication fork
What do clamp proteins (sliding clamp) do at the replication fork?
Tethers the 2 copies of DNA Pol III to each other
Okazaki fragment length
About 1000 bases long With an RNA primer initially at each 5’ end
How are RNA primers removed from Replicating DNA?
RNAse H (e-coli specific) or DNA pol I (some bacteria only use pol I) removes primers using exonuclease activity (degrades RNA until it reaches DNA) from RNA-DNA hybrid at the beginning of Okazaki fragments. DNA Pol I then replaces the RNA primer with DNA
What does DNA ligase do?
Final bond is made after replacing of RNA with DNA by DNA Pol I between 3’OH and 5’ phosphate
What is the rate of DNA replication?
750-1000 bases/sec
Wha makes replication accurate?
- Semiconservative replication (checked against parent strand) - fidelity of dNTP binding and 3’—>5’ exonuclease (proofreading exonuclease found in DNA Pol I and III) - mistake rate is 1/10^9 nucleotides
What is the role of topoisomerases in bacteria?
Introduce super coils in the DNA to condense it in the nucleoid
What does DNA Gyrase do?
Reduces strain during replication
How does gyrase work?
It acts just ahead of the replication fork and enables the rep. Fork to keep unwinding and synthesizing new DNA on the 2 template strands - reduces increased strain downstream of unwinding so that unwinding continues to occur at a consistent rate
Another antibacterial drug target:
Topoisomerases
Where does DNA replication end?
At terminus (opposite end of circular chromosome)