unit two and three Flashcards
what is the general structure of a nucleotide?
- a phosphate group attached to a 5 carbon ring
what carbon is the new nucleotide added to?
3’ carbon
what is the polymer of nucleotides?
nucleic acids
what are the two types of bases?
purines and pyramidines
what is the difference between a purine and a pyramidine?
purines are double ring, pyramidine are single ring
what are the purine bases?
adenine and guanine
what are the pyramidine bases?
thymine, uracil, and cytosine
what holds the base pairs together?
hydrogen bonds
what is base-stacking?
base stacking (ID-ID) between non-polar surfaces contribute to the bases packing together
why do purines bind with pyramidines?
because it allows for a uniform structure
- same distance between bases in the two strands
- same regular hydrogen bonding interaction
- same stacking interactions between bases above and below
what is a phosphodiester bond?
two ester linkages form a phosphodiester bond - links the two nucleotides together
what is the directionality of a nucleic acid? (ie. DNA/ RNA)
5’ to 3’
what are the levels of structures of DNA?
primary: 1 strand of DNA
secondary: double helix
tertiary: chromatin
describe the double helix structure of DNA
- 2 strands of DNA wound together
- major and minor groove - where proteins bind
- DNA sequences on both strands are complementary to each other
- each strand is anti-parallel
what are the differences between DNA and RNA?
- ribose has OH on 2’ carbon, deoxyribose has H on 2’ carbon
- DNA has deoxyribose sugar, RNA has ribose sugar
- Bases: RNA uses uracil instead of thymine
- RNA is single-stranded, DNA is double-stranded
- DNA is larger than RNA
- DNA has a monophosphate on the 5’ end, RNA has a triphosphate on the 5’ end
what is the central dogma?
DNA - RNA - Protein
what is called when DNA goes to RNA?
transcription
what is called when RNA goes to protein?
translation
what are the types of RNA?
- rRNA
- tRNA
- mRNA
what is rRNA?
ribosomal RNA, it is not translated, and is integrated with ribosomal proteins, stable
what is tRNA?
transfer RNA, not translated, folded into secondary structure so it can contribute to translation, stable
what is mRNA?
messenger RNA, translated into a protein, unstable, and easily degraded
what way is the DNA template read?
3’ to 5’
what way does RNA polymerase move?
3’ to 5’
what way does RNA grow?
5’ to 3’
what is the template strand?
the strand read to code for the new strand
what is the coding strand?
the strand opposite to the template stand (it is the exact same as mRNA, but replace U and T)
describe the general differences between bacterial gene structure and eukaryotic gene structure?
LOOK AT DIAGRAM
what is the bacterial promoter? (structure + proteins)
-35, -10, sigma factors which recruits RNA polymerase, creating the holoenzyme
what is the eukaryotic promoter?
TATA box, with general transcription factors, and TATA binding protein, creating the basal complex
what is the location of T and T in bacteria?
both in the cytoplasm
what is the location of T and T in eukaryotes?
transcription: nucleus; translation: cytoplasm
what is RNA polymerase?
a very large protein (quatrenary structure) that is made up of several protein subunits that separates the DNA strands and threads the newly synthesized DNA through a channel. does not bind directly to the promoter, the proteins recruit it
what is the general transcription process?
1) RNA pol binds to the promoter (initiation)
2) transcription starts at +1 site/ transcription start site (elongation)
3) transcription stops after the RNA pol passes through the terminator (termination)
transcription summary in bacteria.
- initiation of transcription happens at the promoter sequence
- sigma factor protein binds to the promoter which helps recruit RNA pol to bind and promote the start of transcription
- RNA pol bound to the DNA is oriented such that the catalytic site (catalyzes the phosphodiester bond) is about 10 bases from the -10 box
- the first base that serves as the template to transcribe into RNA is called the +1 site
- transcription continues until termination sequence is encountered and RNA pol transcribes through a termination sequence. a hairpin loop forms on the mRNA causes the RNA pol to dissociate from the gene (DNA)