Nucleotides Flashcards
3 subunits of nucleotides
- pentose sugar (ribose in RNA or deoxyribose in DNA)
- nitrogenous base (purines or pyramidines)
- phosphate group which forms the linkage between nucleotides)
what is a nucleoside
a nitrogenous base + a pentose sugar (ribose or deoxyribose)
nucleotides are linked by what bond?
3’-5’ phosphodiester bond
by convention, DNA sequences are written from the ___ —> ___ end
5’ —-> 3’ end
the difference in the sugar group between RNA and DNA
the pentose sugar in DNA lacks a hydroxyl (OH) grp at the 2’ Carbon
What are the 3 purines that aren’t used in DNA?
- xanthine
- hypoxanthine
- uric acid
how many rings are in purines? in pyramydines?
Purines: 2– PURe As Gold– you always want more rings of gold
PYramidines: 1- you should try to have only 1 slice of PY
Uracil is found only in… Thymine is found only in…
Uracil: RNA
Thymine: DNA
can the pyramidines be derived from one another and if so, how?
yes:
- deaminating cytosine gives you a uracil
- adding a methyl group to uracil gives a thymine
What are effective carriers? What are the effective carriers of: ATP: NADH/NADPH, FADH2: UDP glucose: SAM: THF: biotin: Coenzyme A:
Effective carriers are molecules that are relatively stable as leaving groups. The effective carriers of: ATP: phosphoryl NADH/NADPH, FADH2: electrons UDP glucose: sugars SAM: methyl THF (tetrahydrofolate): 1 carbon biotin:CO2 Coenzyme A: acyl
What is a transition mutation?
a mutation that substitutes a purine for another purine, or a pyrimidine for another pyrimidine
What is a transversion mutation?
a mutation that substitutes a pyrimidine for a purine or vice versa
The more C-G bonds in a DNA chain the __________
higher the melting point (temp needed to denature it) because C-G has three H-bonds as opposed to two in A-T
This is important for PCR/other experiments where you have to denature DNA
What is Chargaff’s rule?
in DNA, the %A = the %T and the %C = %G
Is DNA positively or negatively charged? What about histones?
DNA: negatively (an acid, leaves an H+, has a negative charge)
Histones: positively
what is the structure of a nucleosome bead?
2 loopes of negatively charged DNA wrapped around 8 positively charged histones (H2a, H2b, H3,H4- each x2)
histones are rich in which two aa?
lysine and arginine
which histones form the octamer in the nucleosome bead? which histone ties nucleosome beads together in a string (and is the only histone that is NOT part of the nucleosome core)?
octamer: H2a, H2b, H3, H4 (each x2)
ties nucleosomes together: H1
in mitosis, DNA condenses to form…
chromosomes
Heterochromatin
HeteroChromatin = Highly Condensed DNA
-transcriptionally inactive, sterically inaccessible
Euchromatin
Euchromatin = Expressed
- less condensed, transcriptionally active, sterically accessible DNA
which nucleotides in the template strand are methylated during DNA replication and why?
cytosine and adenine are methylated in DNA replication because it allows mismatch repair enzymes to distinguish between old and new strands in prokaryotes (VERIFY THAT THIS ONLY HAPPENS IN PROKARYOTES– FIRST AID, p.64)
Hisone methylation does what to DNA? What about histone acetylation?
histone Methylation = Mute DNA (inactivates transcription)
Acetylation = Active DNA (relaxes DNA coiling, allowing for transcription)
What are the Purines used in DNA/RNA?
Adenine
Guanine
“PURe As Gold”
What are the Pyramidines used in DNA? In RNA?
DNA: Cytosine, Thymine
RNA: Cytosine, Uracil
“CUT the PY” (pyramindines = cytosine, uracil, thymine)
What is the defining feature of Guanine?
2 ring nucleotide with a ketone
What is the defining feature of Thymine?
1 ring nucleotide with a methyl
THYmine = meTHYl
the deamination of cytosine (a 1 ring nucleotide) makes…
uracil
how many H-bonds are in C-G pairs? A-T pairs? And what does this mean?
C-G: 3 H bonds
A-T: 2 H bonds
*DNA strands with more C-G pairs have a higher “melting point” for denaturing
what 4 cofactors are necessary for de novo purine synthesis?
- THF- Tetrahydrafolate + GAG (3 aa)
- Glycine
- Aspartate
- Glutamine
2 pathways for purine synthesis, and what they are most commonly used for
- de novo synthesis: rapidly dividing cells
2. salvage synthesis: major route for synthesis in adults
de novo purine synthesis
uses elemental precursors and is used for rapidly dividing cells
salvage purine synthesis
recycles 90% of preformed purines released when cells’ nucleases degrade endogenous DNA/RNA to make new purine nucleotides– it is the major route for synthesis in adults
the rate limiting step in de novo purine synthesis is made by
glutamine PRPP (5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate) amidotransferase
PRPP amidotransferase, the enzyme in the rate limiting step of purine de novo synthesis, is inhibited by… (5)
downstream products: 1. inosine monophosphate (IMP) 2. guanosine monophosphate (GMP) 3. adenosine monophosphate (AMP) purine analogs 4. Allopurinol 5. 6-mercaptopurine
what is the reciprocal substrate effect in purine synthesis and what does it allow for?
GTP and ATP are substrates in AMP and GMP synthesis respectively, so if there’s less GTP —-> there’s less AMP and therefore —> less ATP. This allows for balanced synthesis of adenine and guanine nucleotides
a pyrimidine nucleotide always base pairs with ______
a purine nucleotide, and vice versa