DNA Replication and Chromosomes Flashcards
(131 cards)
What did the 3-dimensional crystal structure *proposed by Watson ad Crick suggested?
How DNA could be replicated to maintain the genetic information.
What could each strand of DNA do?
Separated.
Used as the template for second strand production.
What should DNA duplex be before any synthesis begins?
Unwound.
Melted apart.
With what do enzymes need to deal?
With the 5’-3’ orientation of each of the DNA strands.
In what do the 3 replication models of DNA differ?
In terms of how much old and new DNA daughter cells contain.
What were the thoughts of DNA helix unwound and replication?
Unclear if it would happen along the entire bacterial chromosome in one go.
If it had to be done in multiple smaller sections.
How could the 3 competing models of DNA replication be tested based on Meselson and Stahl?
By labelling Escherichia coli DNA during replication with nitrogen isotopes.
Where did incorporation of 14N resulted?
In light DNA.
Where did use of 15N resulted?
In heavier DNA.
How could light and heavy DNA be separated?
By ultra-centrifugation.
Where is DNA centrifuged?
In a CsCl gradient.
What happens to DNA when it is centrifuged in a CsCl gradient?
It moves towards neutral buoyancy point.
Which are the 3 models of DNA strands?
Conservative.
Semi-conservative.
Dispersive.
What happened in Meselson-Stahl experiment?
Several generations of bacteria went through it.
Chromosomal DNA became increasingly ‘light’.
When is replicating/synthesising DNA simple?
When a single template strand is provided.
What happens while the double-stranded DNA is replicated?
One strand is in the opposite direction to the other.
The 2 DNA Polymerases collide.
How do the cells avoid the 2 DNA Polymerases from colliding?
By flexing one of the 2 strands around.
What happens to the 2 DNA Polymerases when the cells flex one of them around?
They move in the same direction as a single ‘DNA synthesis/replication machine’.
For what is a replication complex/machine responsible?
DNA replication in vivo.
What does the replication complex/machine generate?
Copies of whole chromosomes in each cell cycle.
What does DNA Polymerase synthesize?
New DNA.
What does DNA Polymerase catalyse?
Formation of phosphodiester bond between 3’-OH of DNA strand synthesized and incoming 5’-triphosphate (dNTP).
What does the parental DNA strand provide?
The template for base pairing.
From where does the energy for the parental DNA providing the template come from?
The removal of pyrophosphate from incoming dNTP.