Bio/Biochem 1-3 Flashcards
(113 cards)
pyrimidines vs purines bases and shape
pyrimidines=CUT (cytosine, uracil, thymine) single 6C ring, purines=Ag “pure silver” (adenine, guanine) double ring- 1 5C and 1 6C
nucleotide vs nucleoside
nucleoside=sugar+base, nucleotide=sugar+base+phosphates
prokaryotic DNA protection mechanisms (2)
methylation to protect from their own restriction enzymes and supercoiling via DNA gyrase to protect against physical damage
eukaryotic DNA protection mechanisms
nucleic acids wrapped around positively charged histones to form nucleosomes which then coils to form chromatin, and telomeres
euchromatin vs heterochromatin
euchromatin=lighter in color, looser, heterochromatin=darker in color, wound tighter
stop codons
UAA, UGA, UAG (u are annoying, u go away, u are gone)
missense vs nonsense
missense=changes codon to a different amino acid, nonsense=premature stop codon
Endogenous damage vs exogenous damage
Endogenous=caused by reactive oxygen species or physical damage, inter/intra strand covalent crosslinking between two of the same type (purine or pyrimidine) of bases. Leads to misshapen helix, which leads to polymerase errors, double/single strand breaks. Exogenous=via external radiation or chemicals, forms pyrimidine dimers, double strand breaks, translocation, physical damage, intercalation
Types of transposons- IS element, complex, composite
IS element: transposon only takes transposase with it but disrupts a gene. Complex transposon: takes genes with the transposase gene. Composite transposon: takes a central region between two transposase genes with it and inserts it into a new area
topoisomerase
cuts strands of DNA to relieve tension up/downstream caused by unwinding helix
prokaryotic DNA polymerase III
high processivity, fast polymerase and exonuclease activity for proofreading. adds nucleotides ~400 bp downstream of origin, so not the FIRST enzyme but more efficient
prokaryotic DNA polymerase I
low processivity. Slow polymerase and exonuclease to proofread and to remove primer. adds nucleotides starting from RNA primer. Involved in DNA excision repair
prokaryotic DNA polymerase II
backup for DNA polymerase III
prokaryotic DNA polymerase IV and V
Error prone polymerase because no exonuclease so no proofreading. Functions in DNA repair
telomerase
Extends telomeres due to shortening and failure to go all the way to the end in DNA replication. Comes with it own RNA template and has reverse transcriptase activity. Present in spermatogonia, stem cells, and cancer cells
rRNA
ribosomal RNA and makes up the ribosome, provides hte catalytic function of ribosome=ribozyme
mRNA
messenger RNA- coding RNA and carries genetic information to the ribosome
tRNA
carries amino acids from the cytoplasm to the ribosome to be added to a growing protein
hnRNA
precursor to mRNA that has not had G-cap, poly-A tail, or splicing of introns/exons
miRNA vs siRNA
microRNA and small interfering RNA. Function in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by binding to mRNA to increase or decrease translation
monocistronic vs polycistronic
Eukaryotes are monocistronic meaning, one gene=one protein, each piece of RNA only encodes one polypeptide. Prokaryotes and viruses are polycistronic, meaning multiple reading frames overlap
eukaryotic RNA polymerase I
transcribes most rRNA
eukaryotic RNA polymerase II
transcribes most hnRNA (so ultimately mRNA)
eukaryotic RNA polymerase III
transcribes tRNA