TOpic 6 Flashcards
Describe the structure of a nucleotide [3]
Main central structure is a pentagon
on the top left corner there is a phosphate group
and on the right top corner ther’s a nitrogenous base
Name the pentose sugars in RNA and DNA [2]
- Deoxyribose in DNA
- Ribose in RNA
Describe the structure of DNA [4]
- Double stranded polymer of nucleotides twisted to form a double helix
- joined by phosphodiester bonds
- Hydrogen bonds form between complementary base pairs, A and T, C and G
- Antiparallel strands
Name the purine bases [2]
Adenine and Guanine
Describe the structure of the purine bases
two ring molecules
Name the pyrimidine bases [3]
Thymine, Cytosine and Uracil
What is complementary base pairing? [3]
- Describe how hydrogen bonds form between complementary purine and pyrimidine bases
- Two bonds form between A and T (or U)
- Three bonds form between G and C
Why is DNA replication described as semiconservative? [3]
- Strands from original DNA molecule act as templates
- New DNA molecule contains 1 old strand and 1 new strand
- Specific base pairing enables genetic material to be conserved accurately
How is a new strand formed during semiconservative replication? [3]
- Free nucleotides from nuclear sap attach to exposed bases via complementary base pairing
- DNA polymerase joins adjacent nucleotides on a new strand in a 5’ to 3’ direction via condensation reactions to form phosphodiester bonds
- Hydrogen bonds form between complementary base pairs
Outline the role of DNA ligase in DNA replication [3]
- As DNA replicates in an antiparallel fashion, the leading strand (5’ 3’) is replicated continuously whereas the lagging end (3’ 5’) is replicated discontinuously
- Short nucleotide sequences are formed
- DNA ligase catalyses the formation of phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotide sequences
Describe the structure of RNA [3]
- Single stranded polymer of nucleotides
- nucleotides joined by phosphodiester bonds
- hydrogen bonds form between complementary base pairs (A and U) and (C and G)
What is the function of mRNA?
Carries genetic information from the nucleus to the ribosomes for protein synthesis
How do genes determine the structure of proteins? [4]
- DNA base triplets code for amino acids
- Triplet sequence determines amino acid sequence
- Sequence of amino acids determines proteins’s primary structure
- Protein primary structure determines where bonds form when folding into tertiary structure
What is a mutation? [3]
- A random alteration to the DNA base sequence, altering the order of coded amino acids
- This may result in a change in protein structure.
- Mutations often arise spontaneously during DNA replication
What are the three types of gene mutation? [3]
- Substitution
- Insertion
- Deletion