Chapter 12 Flashcards
(44 cards)
Genetic material must possess several key characteristics
- must contain complex information that is stable, but has the capacity to vary
- must replicate faithfully
- must encode the phenotype
Who formalized the central dogma?
Francis Crick
nucleotides
- what DNA consists of
- each has a sugar, phosphate, and a base
tetranucleotide theory
- incorrect theory that DNA conisists of a series of four-nucleotide units, each containing all four bases, in a fixed sequence.
- it implied that DNA was not variable enough to be the genetic material
Chargraff’s rules
- DNA from different organisms vary greatly
- there was a regularity in the ratios of the bases
- A-T
- G-C
Hershey Chase experiment
- Radioactive isotopes of 32P and 35S.
- DNA contains phosphorus and protein contains sulfur
- grew two batches of. E Coli in medium with phosphorus and culture and infected with phage
- infected unlabeled E. Coli with the different phages
- placed E. Coli in blender to shear off empty phage ghosts from cell walls, then separated cells from protein coats
- Most of 35S was in protein ghosts. Most of 32P was found in the viral progeny
- Demonstrated that DNA, not protein is the genetic material of the phages.
Wilkins Franklin experiment
- 3D structure of DNA studied using X ray diffraction
- indicated DNA is a helical structure
Watson Crick experiment
- discovered three dimensional structure of DNA and created molecular models using wire and metal plates
- recognized adenine could bond with thymine, and guanine can bond with cytosine
- two strands of nucleotides wound around each other to form a right-handed helix, with sugars and phosphates on the outside and bases in the interior.
covalent bond
- strongest chemical bonds, formed by sharing of electrons
- not spontaneous
- not affected by heat
phosphodiester bonds
- covalently link the polynucleotide chain between the nucleotides
- join the 5’-phosphate group to the 3’ carbon atom of the next nucleotide
Hydrogen bonds
- when an H atom is shared between two molecules
- weak bonds
- affected by heat
- bases pair through hydrogen bonds
hydrophobic interactions
- nonpolar molecules cannot form hydrogen bonds with water. when present in aqueous solutions these non polar groups associate with each other because they are insoluble in water.
- stacked base pairs form a hydrophobic core
sugar of DNA
- pentose sugars with five carbon atoms
- ribose has OH at 2’. deoxyribose has H there.
nitrogen-containing base
- each base may be a purine or pyrimidine
- purine six-sided ring attached to five sided ring (AG)
- pyrimidine is one six-sided ring (CT,U)
nucleoside
sugar and base together
phosphate group
- phosphate atom bonded to four oxygen atoms
- found in every nucleotide
- carries a negative charge which makes DNA acidic
Two strands of DNA secondary structure
- antiparallel
- complementary bases hydrogen bond
polarity of DNA
- free phosphate group attached to 5’ carbon atom of sugar
- OH group attached to 3’ carbon atom of the sugar
Forces holding the two strands together
- bonds - H bonds. Covalent phosphodiester bonds that link sugar and phosphate groups
- base stacking - hydrophobic interactions between bases.
Difference between RNA and DNA
- Uracil instead of thymine
- RNA has an OH on 2’
B-DNA
- structure described by Watson and Crick
- clockwise or right handed spiral
- 10 base pairs per turn
- most stable form of DNA and most predominant
- exists when plenty of water surrounds molecule
Three levels of DNA structure
- DNA sequence
- double-stranded helix
- higher-order folding that allows packaging
supercoiling
- a type of tertiary structure
- occurs when DNA is over or under wound
- takes up less space than relaxed DNA
topoisomerase
enzymes which add or remove rotations from the helix by temporarily breaking the strands, rotating the ends around each other, and then rejoining the ends.