Topic 7 - Nucleic Acids Flashcards
nucleic acids
- chains of nucleotides
- contains CHONP
- very large molecules
- constructed by linking together nucleotides to form a polymer
types of nucleic acids
- DNA
- RNA
chromosome
DNA molecule
types of metabolism
- anabolism
- catabolism
anabolism
- synthesis of complex molecules from simpler molecules
- requires energy (usually in ATP form)
examples of anabolic reactions
- formation of macromolecules from monomers by condensation reactions
- protein synthesis using ribosomes
- DNA synthesis during replication
- photosynthesis
- synthesis of complex carbohydrates (e.g. starch, cellulose, glycogen)
catabolism
- breakdown of complex molecules into simpler molecules
- releases energy and in some cases this energy is captured in the form of ATP
examples of catabolic reactions
- digestion of food in the mouth/stomach/small intestine
- cell respiration in which glucose/lipids are oxidized to CO2 and water
- digestion of complex carbon compounds in dead organic matter by decomposers
composition of nucleic acids
- pentose sugar (has 5 C atoms)
- phosphate group
- base containing nitrogen and has 1-2 rings of atoms
formation of nucleic acids
- covalent bonds form between the phosphate of one nucleotide and the pentose sugar of another
- creates a strong backbone for the molecule of alternating sugar and phosphate groups (with a base linked to each sugar)
- there are 4 different bases in both DNA and RNA so there are 4 nucleotides
- they can be linked together in any sequence
strand
nucleotide polymer in nucleic acids
differences between DNA and RNA
- the sugar in DNA is deoxyribose while the sugar in RNA is ribose (deoxyribose has 1 less O atom)
- DNA is double-stranded while RNA is single-stranded
- 1 of the 4 bases in DNA and RNA differ
types of DNA bases
- adenine
- cytosine
- guanine
- thymine
types of RNA bases
- adenine
- cytosine
- guanine
- uracil
structure of DNA
- each strand contains 1 chain of nucleotides linked by covalent bonds
- the 2 strands are antiparallel (run in opposite directions: 3’ to 5’ or 5’ to 3’)
- they’re wound together in double helix formation
- the strands are held together by hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases in a specific alignment (complementary base pairing)
- hydrogen bonds are weak, but in a DNA molecule there are a lot of them so they can successfully hold strands together at body temp
complementary base pairing
rule that one specific base will always pair with another to form a hydrogen bond
Adenine with Thymine
Cytosine with Guanine
semi-conservative replication of DNA
- when a cell divides, the 2 double helix strands separate
- each of those original strands serve as a template for the creation of a new strand
- new strands are formed by adding nucleotides and linking them together one by one
- the result is 2 DNA molecules: one is the original and one is newly synthesized
- the base sequence of the template strand determines the base sequence of the new strand
helicase
- group of enzymes that unwind the double helix and separates the two strands by breaking their bonds
- they use energy from ATP to break hydrogen bonds between complementary bases
- coz double-stranded DNA can’t be split into 2 strands while still helical
DNA polymerase
- links nucleotides together to form a new strand using the pre-existing strand as a template
- it assembles the new strand as a complementary base sequence to the template
DNA replication process
- free nucleotides are available in the area where DNA is being replicated
- but only the complementary base pair of the template’s nucleotide in that position can be added
- DNA polymerase will bring nucleotides into the position where hydrogen bonds can form, but if it’s incompatible the nucleotide will break away again
- once a nucleotide with the correct base is brought in, a hydrogen bond will form between the 2 bases
- a covalent bond forms between the phosphate group of the free nucleotide and the sugar of the template’s nucleotide
- the sugar is the 3’ terminal while the phosphate is the 5’ terminal
- DNA polymerase will gradually move along the template strand, adding a complementary base sequence to form a new strand
alternating sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA chains
- molecules held together by phosphodiester covalent bonds
- forms between a hydroxyl group of 3’ C and a phosphate group of 5’ C
- formation of this bond is due to a condensation reaction
- there’ll be a 5’ C free on one end and a 3’ C free on the other
- the 5’ C will always have a phosphate group attached
- the 3’ C will always have a hydroxyl group attached
how are the sugar-phosphate backbones attached to each other?
- by their nitrogenous bases
- they run antiparallel (opposite directions)
- so one has the 5’ C carbon on top and the other has it on the bottom
how is DNA packaged?
- eukaryotic DNA is paired with histone
- tends to have more than 1 histone per strand
why does DNA wrap around histones?
- DNA is negatively charged
- histones are positively charged
- mutual attraction
how does histone induce supercoiling?
- there’s a 5th type of histone attached to the linking
string of DNA near each nucleosome - leads to further wrapping (packaging) of the DNA molecule
- eventually to highly condensed (supercoiled) chromosomes
nucleosome
- section of DNA coiled around 8 histone molecules
- coiling is held in place by a 9th histone molecule
linker DNA
short sections of DNA that connect nucleosomes together
satellite DNA
repetitive DNA clustered in discrete areas
process of semi-conservative replication of DNA
- replication begins at origin
- appears as a bubble because of the separation of the two strands
- helicase ‘unzips’ the DNA strands by breaking hydrogen bonds between nucleotides
- replication begins at origin
- at each end of a bubble is a replication fork
- this is where the double-stranded DNA opens to provide the 2 parental DNA strands
- parent strands act as templates to produce the daughter DNA molecules by semiconservative replication
- at each end of a bubble is a replication fork
- bubbles enlarge in both directions, showing that the replication process is bidirectional
- bubbles eventually fuse with one another to produce 2 identical daughter DNA molecules
- bubbles enlarge in both directions, showing that the replication process is bidirectional
process of elongation of a new DNA strand
- primer produced with primase at replication fork (refer to semi-conservative DNA replication)
- the primer is a short sequence of RNA, usually only 5–10 nucleotides long
- primase allows the joining of RNA nucleotides that match the exposed DNA bases at the point of replication
- primer produced with primase at replication fork (refer to semi-conservative DNA replication)
- DNA polymerase III allows the addition of nucleotides in a 5ʹ to 3ʹ direction to produce the growing DNA strand
- DNA polymerase I removes the primer from the 5ʹ end and replaces it with DNA nucleotides
why is there a difference in process between the assemblies of the 2 daughter DNA strands in the semi-conservative replication of DNA?
- a DNA molecule has 2 antiparallel strands
- due to DNA polymerase III, nucleotides can only be added in 5’ to 3’ direction
- so the production of the 3’ to 5’ strand is a much faster process than the other
phosphodiester bond
the covalent bond between nucleotides that are added to the 3’ end during elongation
leading strand
- the 3’ to 5’ strand
- produced much faster than the 5’ to 3’ strand
lagging strand
- the 5’ to 3’ strand
- produced much slower than the 3’ to 5’ strand
- undergoes discontinuous replication
Okazaki fragments
fragments of the lagging strand
process of elongation of the 5’ to 3’ strand (lagging strand)
- the leading strand is assembled continuously towards the progressing replication fork in the 5ʹ to 3ʹ direction
- but the lagging strand is assembled by Okazaki fragments being produced
- lagging strand is also assembled in 5’ to 3’ direction but gradually moves away from replication fork
- the leading strand is assembled continuously towards the progressing replication fork in the 5ʹ to 3ʹ direction
- Primer, primase, and DNA polymerase III are required to:
- begin the formation of each Okazaki fragment
- begin the formation of the continuously produced leading strand.
- but for the leading strand the primer and primase are only needed once because the production of the leading strand is continuous - Once the Okazaki fragments are assembled, an enzyme called DNA ligase attaches the sugar–phosphate backbones of the lagging strand fragments to form a single DNA strand
role of DNA polymerase III in DNA replication
- adds nucleotides in 5’ to 3’ direction
- on the leading strand it moves in the same direction as the replication fork
role of DNA gyrase in DNA replication
- moves in advance of helicase
- relieves strains in the DNA molecule created when the double helix is uncoiled
- without it, the separated strands would supercoil