DNA structure:

Figure 1- Timeline of events in the discovery of DNA structure. Image courtesy

www.genscript.com

The race for DNA structure:

The structure of DNA remained elusive until experimental

evidence of many types were considered together in a
theoretical framework. Figure 1 indicates the various
experiments which acted as steps towards the discovery of the
correct DNA structure.

The most crucial evidence was obtained using X-ray

crystallography. Some chemical substances, when they are
isolated and purified, can be made to form crystals. The
positions of atoms in a crystallized substance can be inferred
from the diffraction pattern of X- rays passing through the
substance.

The events that provided information about this vital molecule

are described in the following text.

Chemical composition of DNA:

Biochemists knew that DNA was a polymer of nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of a molecule of the
sugar deoxyribose, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen containing base.

Figure 2- Chemical composition of DNA monomers. The only

differences among the four nucleotides of DNA are their
nitrogenous bases: the purines adenine (A) and guanine (G),
and the pyrimidines cytosine (C) and thymine (T). Image
courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th
edition.

In 1950, biochemist Erwin Chargaff reported that

DNA from many different species—and from
different sources within a single organism—
exhibits certain regularities. In almost all DNA,
the following rule holds: The amount of adenine
equals the amount of thymine (A= T), and the
amount of guanine equals the amount of cytosine
(G = C).
Figure 3- Chargaff's rule- In DNA, total abundance of purines is equal to total abundance of pyrimidines. Image courtesy- Sadava
et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th edition.

In 1952, Rosalind Franklin was able to obtain an X-ray diffraction pattern for certain DNA fibers. This
experiment provided the greatest help required by the scientists to deduce the DNA structure.

Figure 4- The positions of atoms in a crystallized chemical substance can be inferred by the pattern of diffraction of X rays passed
through it. The pattern of DNA is both highly regular and repetitive. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th
edition.

Around the same time, Linus Pauling proposed a triple stranded helical structure for DNA. Linus Pauling
had discovered the helical nature of protein folding and deduced that the same folding pattern may be
followed by DNA. The structure proposed by Linus Pauling had the phosphate groups of the nucleotides
facing inside the helical core. However, such a structure would result in the phosphate group repulsion
(due to the negatively charged oxygen groups). Almost unbelievable that the man who had such a
command over chemical bonds would get this wrong.

Figure 5- DNA structure as proposed by Linus Pauling (Top view). The negatively charged oxygen atoms repel each other and would
cause the strands to disassociate. Image courtesy- http://www.dnai.org/
Double stranded structure discovery by Watson and Crick:

The English physicist Francis Crick and the American geneticist James D. Watson, who were both then at
the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University, used model building to solve the structure of DNA.

Watson and Crick attempted to combine all that had been learned so far about DNA structure into a single
coherent model. Rosalind Franklin’s crystallography results (see Figure 4) convinced Watson and Crick
that the DNA molecule must be helical (cylindrically spiral). Density measurements and previous model
building results suggested that there are two polynucleotide chains in the molecule. Modeling studies also
showed that the strands run in opposite directions, that is, they are antiparallel; that two strands would
not fit together in the model if they were parallel.

Figure 6- DNA model proposed by Watson and Crick made several assumptions. The nucleotide bases are on the interior of the
two strands, with a sugar-phosphate backbone on the outside. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th
edition.

Figure 7-To satisfy Chargaff’s rule (purines = pyrimidines), a purine on one strand is always paired with a pyrimidine on the opposite
strand. These base pairs (A-T and G-C) have the same width down the double helix, a uniformity shown by x-ray diffraction. Image
courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th edition.
 Figure 8- In late February of 1953, Crick and Watson built a
model out of tin that established the general structure of DNA.
This structure explained all the known chemical properties of
DNA, and it opened the door to understanding its biological
functions. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of
Biology, 9th edition.

Important properties of DNA structure:

1. The double stranded helix has a uniform

diameter
2. The two strands rum in opposite direction
(antiparallel).
3. The backbone of each strand is made up of sugar
phosphate groups linked by phosphodiester bonds
4. The two strands are held together by hydrogen
bonding between the nitrogenous bases.

Meselson and Stahl experiment:

This experiment was instrumental in proving that DNA follows a semiconservative model of replication. A
cell while undergoing division requires that old cell to produce copies of DNA that can be transferred to
the new cells. The new cells receive a copy of the parent cell’s DNA.

Figure 9- Watson and Crick suggested a

semiconservative model of replication, wherein
each parental strand acts as a template for
synthesizing a new complementary strand. In this
model, each daughter molecules consists of one old
strand (from parent molecule) and one newly
synthesized strand. Image courtesy- www.dnai.org

Meselson and Stahl made clever use of

radiolabelled (15N) heavy isotope of
nucleotides and a density gradient of
Cesium chloride (CsCl) to provide
evidence for the semiconservative model
of replication.

They collected some of the bacteria after

each division and extracted DNA from the samples. To separate the DNA from the cells at different
generation on basis of density, they developed a density gradient solution in a test tube using CsCl. They
found that the density gradient was different in each bacterial generation:
• At the time of the transfer to the 14N medium, the DNA was uniformly labeled with 15N, and hence
formed a single band corresponding with dense DNA.

• After one generation in the 14N medium, when the DNA had been duplicated once, all the DNA was of
intermediate density.

• After two generations, there were two equally large DNA bands: one of low density and one of
intermediate density.

• In samples from subsequent generations, the proportion of low-density DNA increased steadily.

Figure 10- Meselson and Stahl experiment to prove that DNA replicates in a semiconservative manner. The researchers grew
another E. coli culture on 15N medium, then transferred it to normal 14N medium and allowed the bacteria to continue growth.
Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th edition.

The results of this experiment can be explained only by the semiconservative model of DNA replication.
In the first round of DNA replication in the 14N medium, the strands of the double helix—both heavy with
15
N—separated. Each strand then acted as the template for a second strand, which contained only 14N
and hence was less dense. Each double helix then consisted of one 15N strand and one 14N strand, and was
of intermediate density. In the second replication, the 14N-containing strands directed the synthesis of
partners with 14N, creating low-density DNA, and the 15N strands formed new 14N partners. The crucial
observation demonstrating the semiconservative model was that intermediate-density DNA (15N–14N)
appeared in the first generation and continued to appear in subsequent generations. With the other
models, the results would have been quite different:

• If conservative replication had occurred, the first generation would have had both high-density DNA
(15N–15N) and low-density DNA (14N–14N), but no intermediate density DNA.

• If dispersive replication had occurred, the density of the new DNA would have been intermediate, but
DNA of this density would not continue to appear in subsequent generations.

Figure 11- Monomer of DNA (nucleotide monophosphate). The monomers exist within the
strand in monophosphate form.

Figure 12- During the formation of a phosphodiester bond, the incoming

monomers are in nucleotide triphosphate form. The cleavage of the beta and
gamma phosphate provides the energy needed for phophodiester bond
formation. This reaction is catalyzed by DNA polymerase.

Figure 13- Nitrogenous bases of DNA and RNA. Uracil is

present in RNA instead of Thymine.
 Figure 14- Hydrogen bonding between the nitrogenous bases of DNA.

Figure 15- The purines (A and G) pair with the pyrimidines (T and C,
respectively) to form base pairs that are equal in size and resemble the rungs
on a ladder whose sides are formed by the sugar–phosphate backbones. The
deoxyribose sugar (left) is where the 3′ and 5′ carbons are located. The two
strands are antiparallel. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of
Biology, 9th edition.

This concludes the chase for discovery of DNA structure. The next section describes the process of DNA
replication.
Kornberg, Arthur, an American physician and biochemist, was the first to discover how monomers of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) duplicate within bacterial cells and also the first to devise a cell free method
for replicating DNA. For these achievements he shared the 1959 Nobel Prize in physiology.

Arthur Kornberg isolated a new enzyme from E. coli, “DNA polymerase”, which had the property to
assemble nucleotides and manufacture DNA. The cell free setup for replicating DNA was developed in
vitro (in a test tube) by providing a pool of free nucleotides, a DNA primer (he used calf thymus DNA), a
source of magnesium ions, and ATP.

Kornberg used DNA polymerase to verify one of the essential elements of the Watson - Crick Model of
DNA structure: DNA is always polymerized in the 5´ to 3´ direction (H-CH2 sugar phosphate bonds to H-O
sugar phosphate bond; new nucleotides are added at the 3´ end).

The findings of Kornberg experiment provided conclusive evidence that the double stranded helical model
provided by Watson- Crick was accurate.

Kornberg designed the following experiment to determine the growing end for DNA replication process

The reaction used certain key ingredients as follows-

1. Labelled nucleotides (contained the radioactive phosphorus isotope 32P)

2. DNA primer (he used calf thymus DNA),
3. a source of magnesium ions, and ATP

The procedure for the assignment is as follows:

Initiation of the reaction using unlabelled nucleotide as the nucleotide precursor.

Add radioactive (32P) nucleotide for a brief period, and then quickly stop the reaction.

At the completion of the experiment, Kornberg observed that 32P nucleotides attached only to the 3’-OH
end of the growing strand.

The results of the experiment clearly indicated that the newly synthesized strand grows at the 3’-OH end.
DNA replication:

Semiconservative DNA replication in the cell involves a number of different enzymes and other proteins.
It takes place in two general steps:

• The DNA double helix is unwound to separate the two template strands and make them available for
new base pairing.

• As new nucleotides form complementary base pairs with template DNA, they are covalently linked
together by phosphodiester bonds, forming a polymer whose base sequence is complementary to the
bases in the template strand.

The process of replication occurs within a region called the replication bubble, which contains all the
enzymes required for replication and the DNA strands to be replicated. The replication bubble consists of
two replication forks, in which the synthesis of DNA proceeds in the two opposite directions.

Figure 19- Replication bubble with two replication forks proceeding

in opposite directions

Replication is carried out due to the efficient working

of various enzymes involved in DNA replication.

DNA is replicated through the interaction of the

template strand with a huge protein complex called
the replication complex, which contains at least four
proteins, including DNA polymerase. All chromosomes
have at least one region called the origin of replication (ori), to which the replication complex binds with
high specificity.

The first event at the origin of replication is the localized unwinding and separation (denaturation) of the
DNA strands. There are several forces that hold the two strands together, including hydrogen bonding
and the hydrophobic interactions of the bases. An enzyme called DNA helicase uses energy from ATP
hydrolysis to unwind and separate the strands. Proteins called single-strand binding proteins bind to the
unwound strands to keep them from reassociating into a double helix. This process makes each of the two
template strands available for complementary base pairing.

Three types of DNA polymerase exist which assist in the process of DNA replication.

 DNA polymerase I
 DNA polymerase II
 DNA polymerase III

The function of these DNA polymerases is revealed as the process of DNA replication is studied further.

The first DNA polymerase to act in the replication complex is DNA polymerase III, whose function is to
extend the new strand.
A DNA polymerase elongates a polynucleotide strand by covalently linking new nucleotides to a previously
existing strand. However, it cannot start this process without a short “starter” strand, called a primer. In
DNA replication, the primer is usually a short single strand of RNA (Figure 14). This RNA primer strand is
complementary to the DNA template, and is synthesized one nucleotide at a time by an enzyme called a
primase. The DNA polymerase III then adds nucleotides to the 3′ end of the primer and continues until
the replication of that section of DNA has been completed. Thus the basic function of DNA polymerase III
is to extend the new strand starting from one end of the RNA primer.

DNA polymerase I (discovered by Arthur Kornberg) degrades the RNA primer, and adds DNA in its place.

This action of DNA polymerase I causes the resulting new strand to have a small gap. This gap is filled in
by DNA ligases. When DNA replication is complete, each new strand consists only of DNA.

Figure 20- DNA polymerase requires a primer to initiate replication.

Primase is the enzyme which provides an RNA primer. DNA
polymerase attaches nucleotides to the end of this RNA primer and
extends the new strand. Note: the new strand is DNA in nature and
not RNA. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology,
9th edition.

The two daughter strands resulting from a double

stranded parent grow differently. The DNA double helix
is antiparallel in nature, therefore:

• One newly replicating strand (the leading strand) is

oriented so that it can grow continuously at its 3′end as
the fork opens up.

• The other new strand (the lagging strand) is oriented

so that as the fork opens up, its exposed 3′end gets
farther and farther away from the fork, and an
unreplicated gap is formed. This gap would get bigger
and bigger if there were not a special mechanism to
overcome this problem.

Synthesis of the lagging strand requires the synthesis of relatively small, discontinuous stretches of
sequence. These discontinuous stretches are synthesized just as the leading strand is, by the addition of
new nucleotides one at a time to the 3′ end of the new strand, but the synthesis of this new strand moves
in the direction opposite to that in which the replication fork is moving. These stretches of new DNA are
called Okazaki fragments (after their discoverer, the Japanese biochemist Reiji Okazaki). While the leading
strand grows continuously “forward,” the lagging strand grows in shorter, “backward” stretches with gaps
between them. A single primer is needed for synthesis of the leading strand, but each Okazaki fragment
requires its own primer to be synthesized by the primase. DNA polymerase III then synthesizes an Okazaki
fragment by adding nucleotides to one primer until it reaches the primer of the previous fragment. At this
point, DNA polymerase I removes the old primer and replaces it with DNA. Left behind is a tiny nick—the
final phosphodiester linkage between the adjacent Okazaki fragments is missing. The enzyme DNA ligase
catalyzes the formation of that bond, linking the fragments and making the lagging strand whole.
 Single strand
binding protein

Helicase

Figure 21- Synthesis of the leading strand. Image courtesy- Biology, by Campbell et al.

Figure 22- Synthesis of the lagging strand. Image courtesy-

Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th edition.
Figure 23- Sliding DNA clamp increases the efficiency of polymerization by keeping the enzyme bound to the substrate, so the
enzyme does not have to repeatedly bind to template and substrate. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology,
9th edition.

During DNA replication, the progress of the replication fork generates positive supercoils ahead of the
replication machinery and negative supercoils behind it. The DNA can be supercoiled to such an extent
that if left unchecked it could impede the progress of the protein machinery involved. This is prevented
by DNA topoisomerase, which makes single-stranded nicks to relax the helix.

Small circular chromosomes, such as those of bacteria (consisting of 1–4 million base pairs), have a single
origin of replication. Two replication forks form at this ori, and as the DNA moves through the replication
complex, the replication forks extend around the circle. Two interlocking circular DNA molecules are
formed, and they are separated by an enzyme called DNA topoisomerase. DNA polymerases are very fast.
In E. coli, replication can be as fast as 1,000 bases per second, and it takes 20–40 minutes to replicate the
bacterium’s 4.7 million base pairs.
Figure 24- Replication in a bacteria having circular DNA.

Human DNA polymerases are slower than those of E. coli, and

can replicate DNA at a rate of about 50 bases per second.
Human chromosomes are much larger than those of bacteria
(about 80 million base pairs) and linear. Large linear
chromosomes such as those of humans contain hundreds of
origins of replication. Numerous replication complexes bind to
these sites at the same time and catalyze simultaneous
replication. Thus there are many replication forks in eukaryotic
DNA.

Figure 25- Larger linear chromosomes, typical of nuclear DNA in eukaryotes,

have many origins of replication. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The
science of Biology, 9th edition.
Activity of telomerase:

Replication of the lagging strand occurs by the addition of Okazaki fragments to RNA primers. When the
terminal RNA primer is removed, no DNA can be synthesized to replace it because there is no 3′end to
extend. So the new chromosome has a bit of single-stranded DNA at each end. This situation activates a
mechanism for cutting off the single stranded region, along with some of the intact double-stranded DNA.
This is a part of DNA repair mechanism. Thus the chromosome becomes slightly shorter with each cell
division.

Figure 26- Removal of the RNA primer at the 3′ end of the template for the lagging strand leaves a region of DNA— the telomere—
unreplicated. In continuously dividing cells, the enzyme telomerase binds to the 3′ end and extends the lagging strand of DNA, so
the chromosome does not get shorter. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th edition.

An enzyme, appropriately called telomerase, catalyzes the addition of any lost telomeric sequences.
Telomerase contains an RNA sequence that acts as a template for the telomeric DNA repeat sequence.
DNA Replication proofreading:

DNA must be accurately replicated and faithfully maintained. The price of failure can be great; the
accurate transmission of genetic information is essential for the functioning and even the life of a single
cell or multicellular organism. Yet the replication of DNA is not perfectly accurate. So the problem arises
in preserving life.

DNA repair mechanisms help to preserve life. DNA polymerases initially make significant numbers of
mistakes in assembling polynucleotide strands. Without DNA repair, the observed error rate of one for
every 105 bases replicated would result in about 60,000 mutations every time a human cell divided.
Fortunately, our cells can repair damaged nucleotides and DNA replication errors, so that very few errors
end up in the replicated DNA.

Cells have at least three DNA repair mechanisms at their disposal:

•A proofreading mechanism corrects errors in replication as DNA polymerase makes them.

•A mismatch repair mechanism scans DNA immediately after it has been replicated and corrects any base-
pairing mismatches.

• An excision repair mechanism removes abnormal bases that have formed because of chemical damage
and replaces them with functional bases.

Most DNA polymerases perform a proofreading function each time they introduce a new nucleotide into
a growing DNA strand. When a DNA polymerase recognizes a mispairing of bases, it removes the
improperly introduced nucleotide and tries again. The error rate for this process is only about 1 in 10,000
repaired base pairs, and it lowers the overall error rate for replication to about one error in every 1010
bases replicated.

Figure 27- Proofreading activity during DNA replication. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th edition.

After the DNA has been replicated, a second set of proteins surveys the newly replicated molecule and
looks for mismatched base pairs that were missed in proofreading. Mismatch repair mechanism might
detect an A-C base pair instead of an A-T pair. The repair mechanism “knows” whether the A-C pair should
be repaired by removing the C and replacing it with T or by removing the A and replacing it with G (it can
detect the “wrong” base)because a DNA strand is chemically modified some time after replication. In
prokaryotes, methyl groups (—CH3) are added to some adenines. In eukaryotes, cytosine bases are
methylated. Immediately after replication, methylation has not yet occurred on the newly replicated
strand, so the new strand is “marked” (distinguished by being unmethylated) as the one in which errors
should be corrected. When mismatch repair fails, DNA sequences are altered. One form of colon cancer
arises in part from a failure of mismatch repair.

Excision repair mechanisms deal with damage due to high-energy radiation, chemicals from the
environment, and random spontaneous chemical reactions. Individuals who suffer from a condition
known as xeroderma pigmentosum lack an excision repair mechanism that normally corrects the damage
caused by ultraviolet radiation. They can develop skin cancers after even a brief exposure to sunlight.

Figure 28- DNA repair mechanisms. Image courtesy- Sadava et al, Life: The science of Biology, 9th edition.