XII Chap 6 Molecular Inheritance Flashcards
Adenine pairs with?
Thymine
Guanine pairs with?
Cytosine
DNA is a long polymer of _______________
deoxyribonucleotides
Length of DNA is defined as:
number of base pairs (pairs of nucleotides)
What are the 3 components of nucleotides?
- Nitrogenous base
- Pentose (5-carbon) sugar
- Phosphate group
Two types of nitrogenous bases?
Purines (Adenine and Guanine) - 2 rings
Pyrimidines (Cytosine, Thymine and Uracil) - 1 ring
How long is the haploid content of human DNA?
3.3 x 10^9
______ (nitrogenous base) is only present in DNA and ______ only in RNA
Thymine in DNA
Uracil in RNA
DNA was first identified by ?
Friedrich Meischer in 1869 - “acidic substance in nucleus”
Named it Nuclein
What is a nucleoside?
Sugar attached to nitrogenous base;
nitrogenous base is linked to OH of 1’ C pentose sugar through an N-glycosidic linkage
Examples of nucleosides
Adenosine or deoxyadenosine Guanosine or deoxyguanosine Cytidine or deoxycytidine Uridine or Deoxythymidine
How is nucleotide formed from nucleoside?
Phosphate group is linked to OH of 5’ C of a nucleoside through phosphoester linkage
What is a dinucleotide?
Two nucleotides linked through 3’ - 5’ C phosphodiester linkage to form a dinucleotide
What are at the 2 ends of a polymer?
One end a free phosphate moeity at 5’ end of sugar
One end a free OH of 3’ C group
Backbone of polynucleotide chain is formed due to _____ and ______
sugar and phosphates
The _________ linked to sugar moiety project from the backbone
nitrogenous bases
In RNA, every nucleotide residue has an additional ________ present at the ______ position in the ribose
-OH group;
2’-position
__________ is another chemical name for thymine
5-methyl uracil
In ________ Watson and Crick suggested the _________ model based on the X-ray diffraction data produced by __________
1953;
Double Helix;
Rosalind Franklin + Maurice Wilkins
___________ observed that for a double stranded DNA the ratios of Adenine:Thymine:Guanine:Cytosine are constant and equals one
Erwin Chargaff
What are the 5 salient features of the Double-helix structure of DNA?
- Made of 2 polynucleotide chains, sugar-phosphate backbone and bases project inside
- Two chains have anti-parallel polarity
- Bases in 2 strands are paired through hydrogen bonds forming base pairs; purine always opposite to a pyrimidine => uniform distance between the 2 strands of helix
- Two chains are coiled in right-handed fashion; helix pitch is 3.4 nm; 10 bp in each turn; distance between bps is 0.34 nm
- Stacking of bp planes and H-bonds => stable helix structure
1 Nanometer = ____ meters
1 billionth => 1 / 10^9
What is anti-parallel polarity?
One chain has polarity 5’ -> 3’ then the other has 3’ -> 5’
Adenine and Thymine form how many hydrogen bonds? Same Q for Cytosine and Guanine?
AT - 2 bonds
CG - 3 bonds
What is the Central Dogma? Who proposed it?
Francis Crick;
genetic information flows from DNA to RNA (transcription) to Protein (translation)
In some viruses, flow of information is reversed from RNA to DNA. This is called?
Reverse transcription
What is the distance between 2 consecutive base pairs?
0.34 nm
If length of human DNA is calculated it comes out to be ____ metres
2.2
How is DNA arranged in prokaryotes?
No nucleus
Large loops of DNA (negatively charged) - proteins (positively charged) - ‘nucleoid’ region
How is DNA arranged in eukaryotes?
Nucleosomes (negatively charged DNA wrapped around 8 molecules of positively charged protein => histone octamer) in chromatin (repeating structure) like ‘beads-on-string’ structure
What is a histone?
Set of positively charged basic proteins;
rich in basic amino acid residues lysine and arginine;
amino acid residues carry positive charges
What is a histone octamer?
8 units of histomes (o.e. positively charged proteins)
Typical nucleosome contains _______ base pairs of DNA
200
How are chromosomes formed in eukaryotes?
Beads-on-string structure in chromatin is packaged to form chromatin fibers, coiled and condensed at metaphase stage of cell division to form chromosomes
What are NHC proteins?
Additional set of proteins to pack chromatin at higher level - Non-histone Chromosomal protein
What is euchromatin?
Region of chromatin that is loosely packed, stains light and transcriptionally active
What is heterochromatin?
Region of chromatin that is tightly packed, stains dark and transcriptionally inactive
Explain Griffith’s Transforming Principle
Some genetic material was transferred from heat-killed S strain bacteria to R bacteria that allowed R bacteria (previously benign) to develop a smooth polysaccharide coat and kill the mice
When did Griffith conduct his experiments to yield the transforming principle? What was his experiment
1928,
Mice were infected with 2 different strains of bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus). One killed mice (S strain) and the other (R strain) was benign. A mixture of heat-killed S strain and benign R strain showed some kind of ‘transformation’ because R strain was now able to kill the mice.
What contribution did Avery, MacLeod and McCarty make to the study of DNA?
They determined the biochemical nature of Griffith’s transforming principle
Previously genetic material was though to be a protein. They purified proteins, RNA, DNA, etc. and discovered that DNA alone transformed R bacteria.
In Avery, MacLeod and McCarty’s experiment, digestion with ____ and _____ did not inhibit transformation but digestion with _______ did.
Protease or RNase did not inhibit;
DNase did => DNA caused the transformation
What are protein-digesting enzymes called?
Proteases
What are RNA-digesting enzymes called?
RNase
________ experiment proved unequivocally that DNA was the genetic material
Hershey-Chase experiment involving viruses (bacteriophages) and E. coli bacteria
Describe the Hershey-Chase experiment
bacteriophages - DNA made radioactive with phosphorus - protein made radioactive with sulfur - infection => blending to separate viral coat => centrifugation to separate virus from bacteria
bacteria with radioactive DNA => radioactive;
bacteria with radioactive protein => not radioactive
Therefore, DNA is the genetic material passed from virus to bacteria
When does RNA act as genetic material?
In some viruses e.g. Tobacco Mosaic, QB bacteriophage
Criteria of a molecule that can act as genetic material?
- Replication
- Stability (chemical and structural)
- Scope for Mutation
- Express itself in ‘Mendelian Characters’
______ molecules fail to fulfill the first criteria (replication) itself
Protein
_____ present at every nucleotide in RNA make it ______ and _______
2’-OH group;
labile/unstable and easily degradable
RNA is known to be ______ and hence reactive
catalytic
Both RNA and DNA are able to mutate. T or F?
True
_________ can directly for the synthesis of proteins. RNA or DNA?
RNA
_______ is better for storage of genetic material whereas _________ is better for transmission of genetic material
DNA - storage
RNA - transmission
Compare the characteristics of RNA and DNA as genetic material
DNA - more stable, less reactive, better for storage
RNA - mutates and evolves faster, can directly code for protein synthesis, better for transmission
______ was the first genetic material
RNA
Some important biochemical reactions in living systems are catalyzed by ________ instead of protein enzymes.
RNA catalysts
DNA has evolved a process of _________
repair
What is the semiconservative DNA replication model? Who is credited with it?
Credit - Watson and Crick
Two strands of DNA separate, act as template for new complementary strands;
after replication each DNA molecule will have one parental strand and one newly synthesized strand
Who & which experiment proved that DNA replicates semiconservatively?
Meselson & Stahl (1958);
Grew E. coli in medium containing 15N (heavy nitrogen) for several generations => 15N was incorporated into DNA
Then placed E. Coli with heavy DNA in a medium with normal 14N.
20 minutes => 100% hybrid / intermediate density
40 minutes => 50% hybrid and 50% ‘light’ DNA
Who & which experiment proved that DNA in chromosomes replicate semi-conservatiely?
Taylor et al, 1958
radioactive thymidine, Vicia faba (faba beans)
The main enzyme in DNA replication is _________
DNA-dependent DNA polymerase
In living cells, the process of replication requires a set of _________
catalysts / enzymes
What is DNA polymerase?
Enzyme that uses DNA template to catalyze the polymerisation of deoxyribonucleotides; highly efficient; high degree of accuracy
Any mistake during replication would result in _________
mutations
What are deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates
Act as substrates during replication;
Provide energy for polymerisation reaction
The two terminal phosphates in a deoxynucleoside triphosphates are _____________
high-energy phosphates
What is a replication fork?
Small opening of the DNA helix where replication occurs (because DNA cannot be separated in its entire length - too much energy required)
DNA polymerases catalyse polymerisation only in one direction: _________
5’ -> 3’
On ________ strand the replication is continuous;
on _____ strand discontinuous
3’ -> 5’ - continuous
5’ -> 3’ - discontinuous
Discontinuously synthesized fragments in DNA replication are later joined by __________
DNA ligase
DNA polymerase can initiate the process of replication on their own. T or F?
False
Where does replication begin in DNA?
Origin of replication
Why are vectors required in recombinant DNA procedure?
Because they provide the origin of replication
In eukaryotes the replication of DNA takes place at ______ phase of cell-cyle
S-phase
A failure in cell division after DNA replication can lead to __________
polyploidy or chromosomal anomaly
What is transcription?
The process of copying genetic information from ONE strand of DNA into RNA