Exam 3 Flashcards
RNA polymerase
- Holoenzyme that finds which gene to transcribe, and begins the process of transcription
- no primer is necessary to begin transcription
- has 4 subunits bound to a core enzyme
- Sigma Factor plays role in regulatory function
- 3 types to synthesize the 3 types of RNA.
- RNA polymerase synthesizes mRNA,
- DNA polymerase synthesizes DNA
Centromere
- region of a chromosome where spindle fibers attach
- chromosomes without a centromere would be lost
- important for chromosomal segregation
Chromatin Remodeling
- structure must change to allow access to DNA
- ability to package DNA while maintaining structure, and be able to go back in and change structure to access the DNA
- ESSENTIAL
- histone tails, acetylation, methylation and phosphorylation
DNA is a ________ and nucleotides are the building blocks of these molecules
- nucleic acid
Direction of B form DNA (watson and crick)
- 5’ to 3’ direction (Watson)
- 3’ to 5’ direction (crick)
- antiparallel to eachother
Ribozymes
- catalytic RNA (function as enzymes)
Elongation in bacterial transcription
- RNA polymerase
- unwinding of DNA ahead of transcription bubble and rewinding behind it - 5’ to 3’ extension of RNA
- DNA/RNA duplex within the bubble
How do you remove introns (noncoding regions)?
- Pre-mRNA undergoes splicing in the nucleus
- Requires 3 sequences:
1. a 5’ splice site
2. a 3’ splice site - a 5’ and 3’ splice site defined by GU, end in AG
3. branch site- 18 to 40 nucleotides upstream of 3’ splice site (Y-pyrimidine and R-Purine) - Splicesome is ESSENTIAL!!! It’s made of RNAs and proteins and it cuts out introns
G banding
- Stains condensed chromosomes to create a visual karyotype
- photographs the entire chromosome complement
Alternative Splicing
- yielding different transcripts from the same gene via mRNA processing
- moves around the exons to decide which ones will get expressed
- adds variation
Transposable sequences
- “jumping genes” that move around and insert themselves to cause mutations
- mobile and can potentially relocate within the genome
- make up a HUGE portion of the human genome
Prokaryotic DNA structure
- DNA without free ends can become supercoiled positive and negative
- most DNA are negatively supercoiled (with the help of topoisomerase)
- separation of strands is easier, occupies less space then relaxed
Difference between eukaryotic and bacterial DNA
- bacterial DNA is packed with proteins instead of histones
- are much smaller in size
- are often circular
What does insertion of the wrong nucleotide lead to?
- the incorrect positioning of 3’ OH which stalls polymerase
Polytene chromosome
- specialized chromosomes that do not exist in every organism
- Can be seen under microscope during interphase
many stranded chromosome - has undergone DNA replication without the separation of the replicated strands, which remain in exact parallel register
- large banded chromosomes that came about during chromosomal REPLICATION WITHOUT DIVISION
- Line up with each other at chromomeres (centers)
- have puffs at certain chromomeres
Do most somatic cells have telomerase activity?
NO
- we have a copy of the gene, but it’s usually turned off and inactive
- This means our telomeres are shortening w/ every replication as we age
Heteromeric Codons
- codons that have different ribonucleotides in them
- EX: ACA instead of just AAA
- We know that a codon is made of 2 A’s and 1 C, but we don’t know the exact order (exact codon)
- ACA, AAC, CAA are all possible
What is the eukaryotic origins for DNA replication
- ARS (autonomously replicating sequences)
- enable DNA to replicate
- there are many
Linear eukaryotic Replication
- eukaryotes
- has multiple origins(replicons)/ replication forks and bubbles
- do not break the nucleotide strand
- forms 2 new linear DNA strands
- bidirectional
Nucleoside
- consists of only a pentose sugar and nitrogenous base
- NO phosphate group
Denaturation of DNA
- MELTING DNA to pull strands apart by breaking hydrogen bonds between nitrogenous bases
RNA splicing
- Removes noncoding introns from pre-mRNA
- facilitates export of mRNA to cytoplasm
- Allows for multiple proteins to be produced
A-DNA form
- alpha helix (right handed/clockwise spiral)
- shorter/wider
- probably does not exist in nature
positive supercoil
- adding in rotations to circular DNA which causes supercoiling
-10 consensus sequence
- Pribnow Box
- where unwinding begins bc it’s A-T rich which have easier-to-break Hydrogen bonds
- TATAAT
- prokaryotes
what does speed of denaturation tell you?
- The faster the 2 DNA separates… the fewer hydrogen bonds had to be broken (there must’ve been more A’s and T’s and less G’s and C’s)
- More G’s and C’s means DNA will separate/denature slower
DNA replication Elongation Step
- DNA polymerases synthesize the DNA
- DNA polymerase 1 has 5’ to 3’ polymerase activity
- has 3’ to 5’ exonuclease activity (allowing correction of errors)
- has 5’ to 3’ exonuclease activity used to remove the primers
- main function is removal of primers
- DNA polymerase 3 has 5’ to 3’ polymerase activity
- has 3’ to 5’ exonuclease activity (allows correction of errors)
DNA polymerases function in DNA replication
- function in replication, recombination and repair
What does it mean that the reading frame of mRNA is nonoverlapping*?
- You read every 3 bases as 1 codon and continue
- No overlapping of the codons and no pausing in the reading
- AUA.CGA.GUC
Core promoter in eukaryotic transcription
- part of DNA that has a binding site for RNA polymerase II to bind to begin transcription
- includes TATA box (same thing as Pribnow box in prokaryotes)
- Region of DNA that facilitates attachment of RNA polymerase.
- Often includes region enriched in T and A (TATA box).
NOT transcribed. - Located upstream, located before transcription start site (5’ of synthesized RNA, 3’ of template DNA strand).
replication requirements
- ssDNA template (single strand)
- 2 dNTPs (deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate)
- discontinuous DNA synthesis
Circular Replication
- circular DNA (prokaryotes) do not have any ends
- so a 3’ OH groups is always available to keep replicating around the circle
Nucleosome Assembly
- chromatin assembly factors (CAFs) move with replication fork
Leading Strand
- continuous
- serves as the template for continuous DNA replication
- replicates TOWARDS the replication fork
- replicates in the opposite direction of the strand that goes in 3’ to 5’ direction
R banding
- A chromosome banding technique in which chromosomes are heated in a phosphate buffer
- Produces dark and light bands in patterns that are the reverse of those produced by G-banding
Hershey Chase Experiment conclusion
- demonstrated that DNA, not protein, was responsible for directing the reproduction of phage T2 during the infection of E. coli
- radioactive proteins did not enter the cell and was not transmitted to progeny, they only made up the coat on the virus
- radioactive nucleic acids entered the cell and was transmitted to progeny
CONCLUSION: PROVED DNA IS THE HEREDITARY COMPONENT, NOT PROTEINS
DNA gyrase
- moves AHEAD of replication fork making and resealing breaks in the double helical DNA to release the torque that builds up as a result of unwinding at the replication fork
- a type of topoisomerase, in prokaryotes only
- reduces torsional strain that builds as the fork moves
- prevents supercoiling
untwists DNA a little, seals it together, prevents too much twisting
Solution for telomere problems
- have an enzyme that replaces the ends (block this in cancer cells as therapy)
Rolling Circle Replication
- prokaryotes
- used by some viruses and F factor
- circular DNA
- has origin of replication
- unidirectional
- breaks nucleotide strand
- pull away the outer circle of chromosome and add in new strand
- forms one circular molecule and one linear molecule that may circulize
How do nucleotides attach to one another
- via phosphodiester bonds
DNA ligase
- joins the okazaki fragments b sealing nicks in the sugar phosphate backbone of newly synthesized DNA
- to fill the gaps in the lagging strand, much more active on lagging strand
- also works on leading strand
Central Dogma of molecular biology
- DNA (DNA replication)
- transcription
- RNA
- translation
- protein
- have to be able to replicate DNA
- be able to transcript DNA to RNA then translate to protein (which does functional work)
Acetylation
- neutralizes positive charge on histone protein, relaxes histone hold on the negatively charged DNA
- Found in euchromatic areas which explains why DNA there is active!
Basal Transcription Apparatus in Eukaryotic transcription
- Group of protein transcription factors that bind to promoter sites on DNA to start transcription
- TFIID binds to TATA box to position RNA pol. II correctly (make sure everything is in the right place for transcription)
- TAFs (TBP associated factors) combine with TBP to make TFIID
- Other factors bind to stabilize TBP/DNA:
Renaturation/Reassociation of DNA
- allows hydrogen bonds to reform between nitrogenous bases so the 2 strands of DNA join back together
what does speed of renaturation tell you?
- DNA doesn’t renature all at the same rate
- Highly repetitive - reattach quickly bc they just attach to any base that matches them
- Moderately repetitive - reattach kinda quickly
- Unique - reattach slowly bc they have to find their exact match that they separated from
What enzyme does RNA replication depend on?
- RNA replicase
TATA box in eukaryotic transcription
- DNA sequence in the promotor region of genes
- 30 nucleotides upstream from start site
- tells other molecules where transcription begins
- similar to the Pribnow Box
- found in most eukaryotes!
Terminator in transcription
- the site on a gene that tells RNA transcription to shut off
DNA structure has 3 levels to consider:
- Primary Structure- nucleotide sequence
- Secondary Structure- double stranded helix with nucleotides connected by phosphodiester bonds in a “sugar-phosphate” backbone connected to another strand by hydrogen bonds
- Tertiary structure- higher order packaging
ssDNA proteins
- prevent single stranded regions from snapping back
Eukaryotic Transcription vs Bacterial Transcription
- Eukaryotic cells have 3 RNA polymerases
- So, promoter definition depends on type of polymerase
- many proteins take part in binding of polymerase to DNA
- different proteins require different proteins - KEY- promoters are recognized by accessory proteins which recruit RNA polymerase
- in bacterial transcription holoenzyme recognizes the promoter
Intron
- Intergenic region
- Intervening sequence
- Part of pre-mRNA
Adenine is complementary with Thymine and forms _____ hydrogen bonds. Cytosine binds with Guanine and forms _____ hydrogen bonds
- 2
- 3
Solenoids
- compacted, coiled structure created by H1 Histones interacting and connecting Nucleosomes
- nucleosomes that wrap into coils
- Purpose? COMPACT THE DNA
Nucleotides three components
- Pentose sugar
- Phosphate
- Nitrogenous base
Codon
- three nucleotides that specify for one amino acid
3 mechanisms to prevent mistakes in DNA replication
1) DNA polymerases are very good at reading DNA template strand, & bringing in the correct complement base pairs - they usually pick the correct nucleotide
2) Proofreading ability of the polymerase in the 3’ to 5’ direction using an exonuclease to remove incorrectly inserted nucleotides
3) Fixing errors after replication via mismatch repair which checks the newly synthesized strand for errors and fixes them
Does gene size = protein size?
- No! because some regions are not transcribed, and some are transcribed but not translated
- due to introns and exons
Nirenberg and Matthaei
- Accidentally figured out the first codon
- Added polynucleotide Phosphorylase to a test tube with a lot of Uracils and ended up with a chain of amino acids
- Discovered that the U’s were being used as a template to translate into a protein chain of phenylalanine
- decided that 3 U’s = a codon that translates into Phenylalanine
- Then they repeated this with different bases (A’s, G’s, C’s, etc) to figure out which 3-base codons translated into which amino acids
- This only worked for AAA, CCC, and UUU bc there’s only 1 possible order for these sequences
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
- carries genetic code for proteins
- A copy of DNA is carried out of nucleus and used in translation to be turned into a protein
Dispersive Replication
- old chunk, new chunk, old chunk, new chunk, dispersed
- each daughter strand consists of both old and new DNA
- The original parental DNA is dispersed throughout the 2 replicated copies
- all mixys
DNA Primase
- form of RNA polymerase
- lays down RNA primers (10-12 nucleotides) for DNA polymerase III to extend
- allows for the initiation of DNA synthesis
- an RNA polymerase that synthesizes short oligonuclotide to get DNA replication started
- results in short fragments of RNA that provide suitable 3’ OH ends upon which DNA polymerase 3 can begin polymerization
Conservative replication
-The parent double strand is “photocopied” and maintained/conserved throughout several replications
- no hybrids
- the original helix is conserved
with a 3:1 ratio of new to old
Hershey Chase experiment
- provided evidence that DNA was the genetic material using E. coli and one of its infecting viruses, T2 bacteriophage
1) Labeled proteins to see if they’re transmitted to progeny
2) Radioactively label the sulfur protein coat on VIRUS
3) Make virus infect E. coli
4) Blend it to break virus apart from bacterial cells - centrifuge
5) heavier bacterial cells fall to bottom & light phages go to top
6) Saw that all radioactivity was at the top in the phages
7) Do the same with DNA using radioactive phosphorus instead of sulfur
8) Saw that all radioactivity was at the bottom in bacterial cells bc the radioactive DNA entered cells & was transmitted to progeny
Levene’s observation
- Came up with the TETRANUCLEOTIDE THEORY that DNA is made up of 4 bases in a fixed sequence,
- Identified the nucleotide (sugar, phosphate, & base) which is the basic unit of DNA
- proteins were initially favored as the genetic material because thought DNA is too regular to encode information
- Chargaff proved this to be incorrect when he demonstrated that most organisms do not contain equal amounts of nucleotides
Termination in bacterial transcription
- Rho independent termination
- Rho dependent termination
Difference in deoxyribose sugar and ribose sugar
- in deoxyribose there is an H group attached to 2’ carbon of sugar
- in ribose there is a OH(hydroxyl) group attached to 2’ carbon of the sugar
Taylor, Woods and Hughes
- showed that semiconservative replication occurred in eukaryotes
- Allowed replication to occur in unlabeled media, and labeled media
- Led to 1 labeled chromatin and 1 unlabeled chromatin
Holoenzyme
- a very large complex made of many components
- DNA polymerase III is an example because it has a bunch of different components (alpha, epsilon, beta, and more!)
- very important that replication works well, because this enzyme is so complex
- The active form of RNA polymerase
- Contains 4 subunits, sigma factor, and RNA polymerase. -
IN PROKARYOTES
Initiator proteins
- binds to origin and separates strands of DNA to initiate replication
Subunits to core enzymes in RNA polymerase
- 2x alpha (a)
- 1 beta (B)
- 1 beta prime (B’)
Eukaryotic transcription Termination
- RNA polymerase 1 requires a termination factor that binds to DNA downstream of termination site
- RNA polymerase 3 uses a termination sequence (string of Us in RNA molecule)
- requires no secondary structure - RNA polymerase 2 termination is coupled to cleavage in the 3’ UTR (untranslated region)
The poly A tail in eukaryotic mRNAs
- has 50 to 250 adenine nucleotides
- is not encoded by DNA
- added after transcription
- Long tail of Adenines added to the 3’ end of most eukaryotic mRNA’s to increase stability and prevent degradation
- Allows mRNA to leave nucleus and travel to cytoplasm to get translated into proteins by ribosomes
_______ bonds link nucleotides and help create the sugar-phosphate backbone
- phosphodiester bonds
rRNA
- abundance?
- function?
- once of the most abundant organelles in the cell
- makes ribosomes
Start codon (Met)
- AUG
DNA Pentose sugar
- deoxyribose
- contains H on 2’ carbon
SINE vs LINE
- Short interspersed element -
- Long interspersed elements
- types of transposable elements/jumping genes
If DNA synthesis occurs on both strands what is required?
- two DNA polymerase 3 are required
What serves as genetic material in some viruses?
- RNA
what happens to telomeres when we replicate? and what’s the consequence?
- they get shorter with each replication, so we will eventually lose them and thus lose the chromosome entirely
Promotor in transcription
- DNA sequence that transcriptional apparatus recognizes
- indicates which strand of DNA will be transcribed
- determines start site of transciption
- does not get transcribed itself
The human genome is composed of
- highly repetitive DNA and moderately repetitive DNA
- tandem repeats and interspersed retrotransposons: middle repetitive
- satellite DNA: highly repetitive
Structural features of tRNAs
- Cloverleaf secondary structure
- 4 major arms (acceptor, thymine pseudouracil cytosine, anticodon, dihydrouridine)
- 74-92 nucleotides long
Pyrimidines
- six member SINGLE ring
- cytosine, thymine and uracil
Transcription is a highly _____ process
- selective
- only bits of the genome are ever transcribed into RNA. not the entire genome
Transcription requires:
1. ssDNA template
2. Substrates to make RNA (Ribonucleotides triphosphate)
3. Transcription machinery (polymerase)
Franklin and Wilkins
- used X-ray crystallography to determine that DNA was some sort of helix
- was the key to unlocking DNA structure
- got a good picture of DNA by freezing it inside a crystal & shooting x rays at it