what are nucleic acids
nucleotides are made up of
1) PENTOSE SUGAR
- beta-D-ribofuranose / ribose (in RNA)
- beta-D-deoxyribofuranose / deoxyribose (in DNA)
2) NITROGENOUS BASE
- pyrimidine or purine
- attached to 1’ carbon of sugar
3) PHOSPHATE GROUP
- attached to 5’ carbon of sugar
what are dna and rna backbones based on
repeated pattern of pentose sugar linked together by phosphate group by
which bond links a phosphate to 2 sugars and at which carbons
what does the formation of phosphodiester bonds mean
how does dna exist in living organisms and who discovered this
double helix
watson + crick
how was the 3d structure of DNA discovered (each scientist and their discovery)
1) CHARGAFF
- determined amnt of adenine = amnt of thymine
- and cytosine = guanine
- Chargaff’s rules
2) ROSALINE + FRANKLIN
- x-ray diffraction
- discovered dna helical, 2nm diameter, complete turn of helix made every 3.4nm
3) WATSON + CRICK
- deduced dna structure from evidence from the 2 above
- proposed double helix (2 dna strands are wrapped around each other )
what is the watson-crick model
what did watson and crick propose about the structure of base pairs
why is dna described as antiparallel
- when the 2 dna strands are physically parallel they run in opposite directions (one is 3’ to 5’ the other is 5’ to 3’)
what functions does the antiparallel nature of dna serve
what is dna replication
what did meselson and stahl determine about the mechanism of dna replication and what does this mean
SEMI-CONSERVATIVE REPLICATION
what would be seen in the
2nd generation of semiconservative replication
how do prokaryotic cells replicate (have circular molecules of dna)
1) INITIATION
- replication begins when initiator proteins bind to a single origin of replication on the cells circular chromosome
2) ELONGATIOON
- replication proceeds around entire circuit of the chromosome in both directions from 2 replication forks
3) TERMINATION
- result = 2 dna molecules
how is the dna double helix formed
sugar phosphate backbones wind around each other
held together by hydrogen bonds
what has to be done to dna to replicate it
open it to expose the nucleotide bases (used as templates for replicating)
what steps are involved in the initiation of dna replication
1) initiator proteins unwind a short stretch of the dna double helix
2) helicase attaches to + breaks apart the hydrogen bonds between the bases on the dna strands + pulls the 2 strands apart
- > energy (from ATP hydrolysis) and specific DNA-binding proteins are also required
what does unwinding of the dna form
- 2 Y shaped replication forks form
what are Y shaped replication forks
area where replication of dna will take place (actual sites where dna copied)
dna replication starts as soon as they’re established
following the formation of Y shaped replication forks, how does replication proceed
how does unwinding strain the molecule and how is this regulated
- topoisomerase enzymes
how does topoisomerase type IA regulate the overwinding of dna
1) make a cut in one strand
2) creating a gap
3) pass the other strand through the gap then seal it
4) induces positive supercoiling (relax negative supercoiled DNA), strands are separated allowing replication machinery to proceed
what does - topoisomerase action precede
replicating DNA Mechanism