Organization of the Genome Flashcards
What is a chromosome formed from?
2 chromatids joined at the centromere
Structural unit of Eukaryotic DNA
Nucleosomes
What is chromatin?
Repeating Nucleosome Units
The structure of chromatin is stabilized through …
the interactions between DNA and DNA-binding proteins
What are the classes of DNA-binding proteins?
Histones
Non-histones
What is chromatin composed of?
Nuclear DNA
Histone Proteins
Small amount of Non-Histone Proteins
Small amount of RNA (snRNA)
What are the forms of chromatin?
Heterochromatin
Euchromatin
What is heterochromatin?
Transcriptionally inactive chromatin
Darkly-stained regions
What is euchromatin?
Transcriptionally active chromatin
Lightly-stained regions
What are the types of heterochromatin?
Constitutive Heterochromatin
Facultative Heterochromatin
What is constitutive heterochromatin?
Always condensed and inactive
E.g. Chromosomal Centromere and Telomeres
What is facultative heterochromatin?
Sometimes condensed and sometimes uncondensed for transcription
E.g. one X chromosome in mamillian females
Histones are ____ proteins
basic
What makes histones basic?
Rich in lysine and arginine
How do histones interact with DNA?
Form ionic bonds with -vely charged acidic DNA phosphate group
What are the types of histones?
H1
H2A
H2B
H3
H4
What are the functions of histones?
Help DNA condensation
Protect DNA from exonuclease digestion
What is the structure of a nucleosome?
dsDNA wound twice around an octameric core
dsDNA is 150bp long
What forms the octameric core
Two molecules of each: H2A, H2B, H3 and H4
How are neighbouring nucleosomes linked?
By linker DNA (20-200bp long)
H1 histones bind linker DNA
What is the purpose of the H1 histone?
Facilitates packing of nucleosome
Protects DNA from exonuclease digestion
Nucleofilaments
Tightly stacked nucleosomes arranged as a coil
What is the purpose of histone modification?
Affect how tightly histones bind to DNA affecting gene expression
What are the methods of histone modification?
Acetylation
Methylation
Phosphorylation
Which parts of the histones are affected by histone modification?
N-terminals
Histone modification is an example of ____
epigenetics