Topic 1.3 Nucleotides Flashcards
The nucleotide
-Nucleotides are monomers of Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA)
-A nucleotide is composed of:
-a pent sugar (DNA-deoxyribose, RNA-ribose)
-an organic Nitrogenous base
-a phosphate group
Base groups: Purines
Adenine (DNA+RNA)
Guanine (DNA+RNA)
-Longer as the contain two nitrogenous rings
Base groups: Pyrimidines
Cytosine (DNA+RNA)
Thymine (DNA only)
Uracil (RNA only)
-Smaller as they only contain are nitrogenous ring
Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid
-Double helix structure
-Pentose sugar: deoxyribose
-Bases:
-adenine
-thymine
-guanine
-cytosine
-Base pairs: AT CG
-Held together by hydrogen bonds (weak but extensive)
Ribonucleic Acid
-Single stranded and linear structure
-Pentose sugar: ribose
-Bases:
-adenine
-cytosine
-guanine
-uracil
-Base pairs: AU CG
Central Dogma in genetics
DNA—>RNA—>Protein
ATP
-Adenosine triphosphate (nucleotide)
-Three phosphate groups
-ATP is made during respiration
-Condensation reaction (ATP synthase)
ATP + H2O –> ADP + Pi
-Opposite reaction: hydrolysis (ATP hydrolase)
ATP process (5)
- ATP releases small, manageable amounts so no energy is wasted
- ATP is a small and soluble molecules easily transported around the cell
- Only one bond is broken/hydrolysed to release energy, which is why energy release is immediate
- It can transfer energy to another molecule by transferring one of its phosphate groups
- ATP can’t pass out of the cell, the cell laws has an immediate supply of energy
(all cells need to respire so they can produce ATP)
ATP ⇌ ADP + Pi
(–>hydrolysis <–condensation
Semi-conservative replication (4)
- DNA helices unwinds/unzips the double stranded DNA by breaking the hydrogen bonds
- This produces two single-stranded DNA template
- New DNA nucleotides now join with their specific complimentary base on the template strand
- These are joined by DNA polymerase (has ‘proof reading’ abilities; checks for mistakes) making sure no mutation occurs
Each daughter cell has:
-one original strand (conserved)
-one new strand
A gene
A gene is a sequence of DNA base which codes for a sequence of amino acids to form a protein.
Genetic code
The sequence of triplets which codes for the sequence of amino acids
-Three bases on DNA codes for one amino acid
Genetic code rules: Universal
The same triplet/codons code for the same amino acid in all organisms.
Genetic code rules: Degenerate
More than one triplet can code for a particular amino acid.
(There are more codons than amino acids so some aminos acids are coded for by more than one codon).
Genetic code rules: Non-overlapping
Three codons are always read together in order.
Start codons
DNA: TAC
mRNA: AUG