Genetics, Cell Division, and Gene Expression Flashcards
What is a nucleotide made up of?
Pentose + Base + Phosphate(s)
How are carbons numbered in sugar in nucleotides?
The 1’ goes at the sugar connected to the carboxyl.
The Nitrogenous base is attached to the 1’ prime carbon
The Phosphate groups are attached to the 5’ carbon
What is a nucleoside?
Just the nitrogenous base and the sugar in a nucleotide
What are the purines
These nitrogenous bases have two rings
* Adenine (A)
* Guanine (G)
What are the Pyrimadines
These nitrogenous bases only have 1 ring
* Uracil (U)
* Cytonsine (C)
* Thymine (T)
“Reading” vs “Writing” directionality of DNA
3’ → 5’ (Reading)
5’→3’ (Writing)
How many H-bonds are there in an A-T bond?
How many in a C-G bond?
A-T: 2 H-bonds
C-G: 3 H-bonds
Is DNA symetrical on both sides?
DNA is twisted into a helix, but it is not symmetric
What do DAPI stains attach to in cells
The DAPI stain attaches to the minor groove of DNA
* It aslo stains organelle DNA (mitochondria and chloroplasts)
What are the different types of double stranded DNA?
A-DNA
Adaptation to desiccation?
B-DNA
Most common type by far
Z-DNA (left handed)
Implicated in disease?
Prokaryotic Chromosome
Circle of double-stranded DNA
* 0.5 – 7.0 Mb long
* Most bacteria have 1 copy per cell
* It contains all the genetic information needed to function and reproduce
* It is replicated during cell division
Prokaryotic Nucleoid
60% DNA (circular chromosome) + DNA-binding proteins not forming nucleosomes
* Arguably some RNA
* NO membrane!
This is the Prokaryotic equivilant of a chromosome
Prokaryotic Plasmids
- Usually small (but it can be quite large)
- Circular dsDNA
- No DNA-binding proteins
What are the different ways of storing DNA (in order of most availible to least availible)
- DNA
- “beads on a string”
- 30 nm fibre
- 120 chromonema
- 300-700 nm chromatid
- 1400 nm mitotic chromosome (supercoiled lineral DNA)
Note: organelle DNA stays circular
What are the states of active DNA
- DNA
- Beads on a string
Single-Strand Binding proteins
SSB proteins prevent annealing (coming back together) of the separated strands and protects the open strand from enzymatic attack
The “Central Dogma”
Information flows from DNA (to DNA) to RNA to proteins
Where does DNA stay? Where do ribosomes stay?
How does the DNA get to ribosomes?
DNA is (and stays) in the nucleus
Ribosomes are (and stay) in the cytosol
Conclusion: RNA shuttles information from the DNA in the nucleus to the ribosomes in the cytosol where proteins are made
What is a gene?
A portion of DNA that encodes a functional RNA
Can be protein-coding or non-protein-coding
Chromosome 1 examples:
* Gap junction protein conexin 31
* Collagen alpha 1
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
Messenger RNA is responsible for relaying the information stored in DNA
How many Nucleic Acids do we make?
DNA: only 4 bases
Protein: 20 residues (+2)
3 Bases = 1 Codon → 1 Amino Acid
Mutations
Are changes in the sequence of bases in the DNA
Are sometimes visible, other times not
Can be deleterious, neutral, or beneficial
Variants
Genetics
When a change does not affect function but rather strength of a phenotype is often called a variant
What are the types of genetic mutations
Framshift
* Deletions (single base or codon)
* Insertions(single base or codon)
Base Substitutions
Note: Many of the base substitutions are invisible mutations
Semi-Conservative Replication
When DNA duplicates, it keeps one strand and makes a new one
DNA replication Summary (Bacterial Model)
Separation
● Straightening → Topoisomerase
● “Unzipping” → Helicase
● Maintaining strands separated → Single-strand-binding proteins
Elongation
● RNA Priming (sometimes DNA) → Primase (a kind of polymerase)
● Synthesis → DNA Polymerase III
● Proofreading → DNA Polymerase III
● Replacing RNA with DNA → DNA Polymerase I
● “Stitching” DNA → DNA Ligase
Replication Fork
Genetics
Topoisomerase relaxes the double helix so it can be “unzipped” without the tensions created by the twist
Class I Topoisomerase
Cuts the sugar-phosphate backbone to allow for over-/under- winding, then repairs the bond once it’s done
Helicase
Pulls apart the double strand so each strand can be accessed individually
Which direction do you transcribe the template strand?
DNA
3’ to 5’ (reading)
Note, the nucleotides you’re adding are from the 5’ to 3’ direction
What needs to happen before DNA pol III can add nucleotides to a lone template strand?
Primase needs to create a primer of ~10 RNA NTs on the DNA template strand
DNA pol III can add dNTPs once a primer is in place
What is the function of primase?
Primase is a kind of RNA polymerase It adds RNA nucleotides:
● ATP
● UTP
● CTP
● GTP
onto a template strand
This must be done before DNA polymerase can add nucleotides to the template strand
What are the functions of DNA (or RNA) polymerase
Many different types exist they all:
● Add nucleotides 1 at a time
Most of them also:
● Perform proofreading
Some of them also:
● Remove primers
What structure proofreads errors during elongation
DNA pol has a proofreading function, if the wrong base is added, it removes it before continuing, then adds the correct base and continues with the extension
Which direction is DNA elongated
5’ to 3’
Leading vs Lagging Strand
DNA Replication
Leading strand follows the direction of DNA helicase.
The lagging strand elongates in the opposite direction of the DNA helicase.
Whats an Okazaki fragment
The little bits of code on the lagging strand
Note: not the primer
What is the function of DNA Ligase
Ligase joins broken DNA
Useful for joining Okazaki fragments during replication but also for repairing DNA that has been damaged by environmental factors such as radiation
Explain DNA Replication in the Bacterial Chromosome
The circular bacterial chromosome has a single origin of replication
From the OOR, two helicases begin to separate the strands in opposite directions, forming a replication bubble
Eventually the replication forks meet and the replication is complete
* Termination sequences and a special protein help to seperate the forks where they meet
Explain DNA Replicaton in the Eukaryotic Chromosome
The linear eukaryotic chromosome has a multiple origins of replication
From each OOR, two helicases begin to separate the strands in opposite directions, forming a replication bubble for every origin
In humans there are about 100000 OOR in total
What’s a Telomere? What does it do?
Telomeres are repetitive sequences (TTAGGG mammals)
The ends of eukaryotic chromosomes are capped by telomeres
DNA pol cannot copy to the very end of a strand so capping sequences provide a buffer to avoid information loss
Telomerase
Telomerase maintains the telomeres
The activity of the enzyme is reduced in adult cells and one of the theories of aging involves the shortening of the telomeres leading to health problems as cells divide
Note: too much tlomerase activity is linked to cancer
Explain DNA replication in Achaea
Circular chromosome but multiple origins of replication
What nitrogenous bases ten to be rich in origins of replication
Origin of replication sequences tend to be AT-rich
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
A laboratory technique for rapidly producing (amplifying) millions to billions of copies of a specific segment of DNA
Explain the significance of thermophilous bacteria
Thermophilous bacteria revolutionized molecular biology
As a thermophile, its enzymes are stable at high temperatures
The DNA pol used in PCR comes from T. aquaticus and is known as Taq pol
Transcription
The synthesis of RNA from DNA
RNA becomes a messenger carrying DNA instructions
RNA polymerase
Does everything:
● Separates DNA
(no helicase needed)
● Reads DNA and synthesises RNA
● Proofreads the growing RNA strand
Which direction is “upstream”
Upstream - Toward the 5’ direction
Downstream - Toward the 3’ direction
Antisense strand
Another word for template strand
RNA pol only reads this
Promoter
Genetics
● A region used to recognise the “beginning” of a gene during transcription
● Transcription factors and RNA pol bind to different sections of the promoter to begin transcription
● TATA box is a conserved sequence of most promoters and marks the specific section for RNA pol to bind to
TATA Box
Genetics
● The general TATA sequence is TATAWAW (W can be A or T)
● TATA-box binding protein binds to the TATA box sequence and crimps the DNA
● RNA pol binds downstream of this protein to begin transcription
Initiation
Genetics
The process assembling all the machinery needed for transcription to occur
The 35s Promoter
A gene alone is not enough to make a protein, the promoter has the function of telling RNA pol to make RNA from the gene
Regularly used to drive the expression of recombinant proteins in plants
Intrinsic Termination
The same transcript that is being produced signals the termination of the transcription
Operon
Genetics
● The operon is a gene structure that allows more than one gene to be controlled by the same operator
● Example: lac operon, the genes that control proteins related to lactose acquisition and metabolism
Was the process of transcription like in bacteria
Transcription coupled to translation
● No further processing of RNA is required
Was the process of transcription like in Eukaryotes
The transcribed RNA needs further processing in Eukaryotes
● In eukaryotes, transcription produces immature messenger RNA or ‘pre-mRNA’
● pre-mRNA processing is known as
post-transcriptional modification
5’ Capping
A modified guanosine is added at the 5’ end: 7-methylguanosine
3’ end trim
● 10 – 30 nt downstream of the sequence AAUAAA (or AUUAAA) the end of the capped pre-mRNA is cleaved (cut off)
● Many factors are involved
Polyadenylation
● A long tail of adenosines is added at the 3’ end (about 250-nt long)
● This is known as polyadenylation
● Poly-(A)-polymerase adds the ATP’s