Structure of DNA Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 4 criteria that make DNA the hereditary material?

A

Information: contains the instructions to make an organism
Replication: able to be copied
Transmission: must be able to be passed from parent to offspring
Variation: can be changed to account for phenotypic variation

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2
Q

What are the 5 nitrogenous bases? Which ones are purines and which ones are pyrimidines?

A

Adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. Adenine and guanine are purines, cytosine, thymine, and uracil are pyrimidines.

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3
Q

What are the 3 components of a nucleotide?

A

Phosphate backbone, pentose sugar, nitrogenous base

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4
Q

What is Chargaff’s rule?

A

Amount of A = T, amount of C = G

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5
Q

What bond linked nucleotides together

A

Phosphodiester bonds

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6
Q

How does complementary base pairing occur?

A

Hydrogen bonding. A and T pair with 2 hydrogen bonds, G and C pair with 3 hydrogen bonds

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7
Q

What is the structure of DNA?

A

Double helix

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8
Q

What is the directionality of the strands in relation to each other?

A

They run antiparallel, one runs 5’ to 3’ and the other runs 3’ to 5’

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9
Q

How are bases, nucleosides, and nucleotides named?

A

Base: just the name of the base, adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine, or uracil

Nucleoside: base + sugar. Named as adenosine, guanosine, thymidine, cytidine, or uridine. Add a deoxy in front if the sugar is deoxyribose

Nucleotide: base + sugar + phosphates. adenosine monophosphate, guanosine diphosphate, deoxyuridine triphosphate, etc

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10
Q

What provides the energy to link nucleotides together?

A

Cleaving off two of the phosphates in a triphosphate nucleotide

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11
Q

Where on the sugar ring is the next nucleotide attached?

A

The 3’ hydroxyl wil attach to the 5’ phosphate

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12
Q

Why is a purine always paired with a pyrimidine?

A

Keeps the diameter of DNA constant at 2nm wide

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13
Q

How many nucleotides are in each turn of the double helix? How long is a turn?

A

10.5 nucleotides, 3.4 nm

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14
Q

What is the difference between the major groove and the minor groove?

A

The major groove is more accessible and is where proteins will bind

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