Lecture 01 Flashcards
Genes
Information containing elements that determine characteristics of a species
What are the structural components of DNA?
5-C sugar (deoxyribose), nitrogenous base linked by glycosidic bonds
Purines
Adenine, Guanine
Pyrimidines
Cytosine, Thymines
Which base paring arrangement is most energetically favorable/stable?
G-C
Genome
complete set of information in an organism’s DNA
What is the mechanism of DNA replication?
Complementary strands serve as template for new DNA synthesis
What components make up chromatin?
DNA, protein
What chromosome identification technique would be useful to identify translocations?
Chromosome painting
What information is found on chromosomes?
Genes (encoding proteins/RNA molecules), Non-coding DNA (regulatory/”junk” DNA)
What are the requirements for a chromosome?
DNA replication origin site, centromere, telomeres
Nucleosomes
Most basic unit of chromosome packing, each contains 8 histone proteins (2 molecules H2A, H2B, H3, H4); contain N terminal AA tail subject to covalent modification/regulation
How is DNA packaged?
H-bonds, hydrophobic interactions, salt linkages (lysine, arginine)
Chromatin Remodeling
Allows loosening of DNA/histone contact, making DNA available to other proteins in the cell
Zig-zag model
Stacking of chromatin by histone tails and H1 (linker histone) allowing dense packing of nucleosomes
