Nucleic Acids, ATP and Water Flashcards
What is the role of DNA?
Carries genetic information from one generation to the next
What are the best know nucleic acids?
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
What does mRNA do?
Copies the genetic information in DNA and takes it a ribosome
What are the polymers of nucleotides?
DNA and RNA
What are the 3 components of a nucleotide?
- Phospahate group
- Nitrogenous base (Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Uracil, Adenine)
- Pentose sugar
What is the difference between ribose and deoxyribose?
Ribose has an OH group bound to carbon 2, Deoxyribose only has a H bound to carbon 2
What is the bond called between two nucleotides that have gone through a condensation reaction?
Phosphodiester bond
What type of bond is a phosphodiester bond?
It is a covalent bond that makes the sugar-phosphate “backbone” of the nucleic acid stable and strong
What direction are nucleotides added?
5’-3’ direction
What structure are DNA molecules in?
Helix structure
What is the purpose of 2 strands?
2 strands protect the information stored in the base sequence from radiation, free radicals, hydrolytic enzymes ect.. and they also allow semi-conservative replication
What makes a stable DNA molecule?
H bonds
What is the function of DNA?
To pass genetic information from one generation to the next
What provides genetic diversity within all living organisms?
The combination of base sequences is almost infinite
How is DNA adapted to carry out it’s function
- The sequence of the bases is variable. This is how information is stored in DNA
- DNA codes for amino acids
- Different bases code for different amino acids
- Long strands of DNA code for lots of different proteins
- mRNA is a comparatively shorter polynucleotide chain
- mRNA is a single stranded helix, mRNA constantly needs to be hydrolysed and rebuilt into different sequences
- mRNA is used to transfer genetic information from DNA to ribosomes
What does anti-parallel strands mean?
Two strands of DNA that run in opposite directions
What enzyme is involved in making the phosphodiester bond?
DNA Polymerase, it has a complimentary active site to the 5’ end of the molecule. Therefore it can only bind to the 3’ end of the primer/developing strand
mRNA -
Messenger RNA is single stranded, linear polynucleotide. Copies the DNA code and takes it to a ribosome to make protein
tRNA -
Transfer RNA is single stranded polynucleotide folded into a cloverleaf shape. It brings amino acids to the ribosome during protein synthesis
rRNA -
Ribosomal RNA is found is ribosomes along with protein
What did Griffith’s experiment designed to show?
It shows that DNA is the hereditary material
What was the first stage in Griffith’s experiment?
The first group of mice were injected with the “R” strain and lived
What was the second stage in Griffith’s experiment?
The second group of mice were injected with the “S” strain and died
What was the third stage in Griffith’s experiment?
The third group of mice were injected with heat killed “S” strain and lived
What was the fourth stage in Griffith’s experiment?
The fourth group of mice were injected with heat killed “S” strain and live “R” strain and died
What are the three possible explanations for the fourth group’s results?
- Experimental error - not all the S strain were killed eith heat
- The living “R” strain form had mutated into the harmful form. (Though this is extremely unlikely, as the experiment was repeated many times and the same results were obtained)
- The dead “S” strain has information about how to make the toxin, but as they are dead, they can’t. The “R” strain has no instructions but has the equipment needed to make the toxin. The information has been transferred from the harmful bacteria to the safe bacteria, which then produced the toxin
What further experiments had to be carried out for the third explanation for the possible reasons the fourth group died in Giffith’s experiment?
. The bacteria from the fourth experiment were collected
. Various substances were isolated and purified
. Each substance in turn was added to suspensions of living “R” strain bacteria to see if it could transform the “R” strain into the “S” strain
. The only substances that caused transformations was DNA
. When enzymes that breakdown DNA were added, no transformations were observed
What was Hershey and Chase’s experiment designed to show?
DNA is the hereditary material that is passed from generation to generation and not proteins
What did Hershey and Chase do to see if proteins are the hereditary material?
. S35 selectively labels the phage protein capsid. labelling proteins with radioactive sulfer allows the protein’s location to be monitored throughout the experiment
. The phages were allowed to infect the bacteria. The bacteria are then agitated to remove the phage capsids from the outside of the bacteria
. No S35 was found in the next generation, therefore no protein was passed on from the parent virus to the next generation of viruses
What did Hershey and Chase do to see if DNA is the hereditary material?
. Radioactive phosphorus P32 was used to label phosphate in the DNA, which is not found in proteins
. The phages were allowed to infect the bacteria. The bacteria are then agitated to remove the phage capsids from the outside of the bacteria
. P32 was found in the new generation of phage showing that DNA must be hereditary, proving DNA is passed from parents to offspring
What does semi-conservative replication do?
It ensures genetic information stays the same between generations of cells and allows daughter cells to produce the same proteins and therefore have the same characteristics and role as the parent cell
What is the first step in semi-conservative replication?
DNA helicase attaches and moves along the DNA molecule, and breaks the H bonds between complementary bases
What is the second step in semi-conservative replication?
The two strands separate and create a replication bubble. Each strand acts a s a template
What is the third step in semi-conservative replication?
Primase makes primers that bind to the template to keep the two strands separated and allow DNA polymerase to bind to the 3’ of the primer
What is the fourth step in semi-conservative replication?
New DNA nucleotides are attracted to exposed complimentary bases on template strands and base pairing occurs (A-t and C-G)