story of us 3.14, 3.15, 3.16B, 3.17B, 3.33, 3.22, 3.19, 3.20, 3.23, 3.24, 3.25, 3.21B, 3.26, 3.27 Flashcards
what does dna stand for?
deoxyribonucleic acid
what does dna do?
stores the genetic information and controls cell activities
- contains instructions for building all proteins within an organism
- in eukaryotes it is found within the nucleus as linear (straight) chromosomes
- in prokaryotes it is the cytoplasm in the form of a circular chromosome and many small plasmids
what shape is dna?
a double helix shape
what is dna made up of?
nucleotides
- they consist of sugar (deoxyribose), a phosphate and nitrogenous base
what are the four types of nitrogenous bases?
- adenine A
- cytosine C
- guanine G
- thymine T
how are the nucleotides joined together?
joined by covalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate group of the next nucleotide- forming the sugar phosphate backbone
what is adenine always paired to?
thymine
what is cytosine always paired to?
guanine
what does rna stand from?
ribonucleic acid
what shape is rna?
joined to form a single strand
how are nucleotides joined in rna?
joined by covalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next
how is rna and dna different?
- rna is single stranded and dna is double stranded
- rna has a sugar called ribose and dna has a sugar called deoxyribose
- rna has a base uracil U and dna has the base thymine T
what are the two types of rna?
messenger rna - mRNA
transfer rna - tRNA
what is the messenger rna?
formed in the nucleus of the cell, copies the sequences of bases of a section of dna this is called TRANSCRIPTION
what is the transfer rna?
found in the cytoplasm, tRNA picks up specific amino acids from the cytoplasm and brings them into the position on the surface of the ribosome where they are joined together to make a specific protein called TRANSLATION
what is a gene?
a gene is a length of dna which codes for a protein
- provides information on sequence of amino acids in a protein
- proteins control chemical reactions, growth, colouration, and all inheritable characteristics
the code is universal
what do you call the every three bases?
codon
what is dna wrapped in?
wrapped in structure called chromosomes
- each person has two chromosomes (one from mother, one from father)