Module 4: Deoxyribonucleic Acid Flashcards
DNA has…
- a common structure across all organisms
- structure of dna is linked to it’s function
- stores genetic information
- copy itself to transmit info from one generation to the next
How do we know DNA is the genetic material?
- Experiments conducted by F. Griffith in 1928 demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material
- know mice
What was key evidence that DNA is the genetic material?
- research conducted by Avery, MacLeod & McCarty in 1944 identified the molecule that transformed the non-virulent to virulent bacteria
DNA is a linear polymer of four different subunits called
nucleotides
Nucleotides consist of three parts:
- A five-carbon sugar
- A base, attached to the 1’ carbon
- One or more phosphate groups
The sugar in DNA is deoxyribose…
“minus oxygen” at the 2’ carbon
The phosphate group has two __ charges on its __ atoms, due to the __ of the __ groups attached to the __ atom at cellular pH (~7)
negative
oxygen
ionization
hydroxyl
phosphorus
A sugar and a base
nucleoside
nucleoside with one or more phosphate groups
nucleotide
One end of a DNA strand differs from the other due to
polarity
Free ____ at top of strand
Free ____ at bottom
5’ phosphate group
3’ hydroxyl group
Bases can only be added to the __ on the sugar
DNA grows in the __ direction
3’-OH
5’-3’ (we read it that way too)
Phosphodiester bond
C-O-P-O-C
- bond between phosphate group and next sugar
3-D Structure of DNA
- two strands of DNA are wrapped around each other to form a helix, coiled right
- sugar-phosphate backbone wind around outside of molecule
- bases point inward
- two strands run in opposite direction, antiparallel
- outside contours from an uneven pair of grooves called the major (big space before next turn) and minor (little space before turns against) grooves
Bases A&T and G&C are known as
- complementary
Why is there specificity of base pairing?
- Specificity arises due to hydrogen bonds that form between A and T and G and C
- H-bonds form when an electronegative atom (O or N) in one base shared a proton with another electronegative atom
What are the two factors that contribute to the stability of DNA?
- Hydrogen bonds
- Weak bonds, when there are many they contribute to the stability of the DNA double helix
- A&T are held together by two H-bonds
- G&C are held together by 3 H-bonds - Base stacking
- Interactions between bases on the same strand
The sequences of bases of a DNA molecule carries information about its…
genetic makeup