Structure and function of

DNA
Dr. Ghada Abou El-Ella
Lecturer of biochemistry
Faculty of Vet. Medicine
South Valley University
 Central Dogma
DNA ---------→ RNA---------→Protein.
 This unidirectional flow equation represents the
Central Dogma (fundamental law) of molecular
biology.
 This is the mechanism whereby inherited
information is used to create actual objects, namely
enzymes and structural proteins.

 An exception to the central dogma is that certain

viruses (retroviruses) make DNA from RNA using the
enzyme reverse transcriptase.
 Gene Expression
 Genes are DNA sequences that encode
proteins (the gene product)

 Gene expression refers to the process

whereby the information contained in genes
begins to have effects in the cell.

 DNA encodes and transmits the genetic

information passed down from parents to
offspring.
 Genetic code
 The alphabet of the genetic code contains
only four letters (A,T,G,C).

 A number of experiments confirmed that the

genetic code is written in 3-letter words, each
of which codes for particular amino acid.

 A nucleic acid word (3 nucleotide letters) is

referred to as a codon.
 Nucleic acids
 Principle information molecule in the
cell.

 All the genetic codes are carried out on

the nucleic acids.

 Nucleic acid is a linear polymer of

nucleotides
 Nucleotides
 Nucleotides are the unit structure of
nucleic acids.
 Nucleotides composed of 3
components:
 Nitrogenous base (A, C, G, T or U)
 Pentose sugar
 Phosphate
 Nitrogenous bases
 There are 2 types:
 Purines:
 Two ring structure
 Adenine (A) and Guanine (G)

 Pyrimidines:
 Singlering structure
 Cytosine (C) and Thymine (T) or Uracil (U).
Nucleotide bases
 Types of Nucleic acids
There are 2 types of nucleic acids:
1. Deoxy-ribonucleic acid (DNA)
 Pentose Sugar is deoxyribose (no OH at 2’ position)
 Bases are Purines (A, G) and Pyrimidine (C, T).
2. Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
 Pentose Sugar is Ribose.
 Bases are Purines (A, G) and Pyrimidines (C, U).
 Linear Polymerization of Nucleotides
 Nucleic acids are
formed of nucleotide
polymers.
 Nucleotides
polymerize together by
phospho-diester
bonds via
condensation reaction.
 The phospho-diester
bond is formed
between:
 Hydroxyl (OH) group
of the sugar of one
nucleotide.
 Phosphate group of
other nucleotide
 Polymerization of Nucleotides
 The formed polynucleotide
chain is formed of:
 Negative (-ve) charged
Sugar-Phosphate backbone.
 Free 5’ phosphate on one
end (5’ end)
 Free 3’ hydroxyl on other
end (3’ end)
 Nitrogenous bases are not
in the backbone
 Attached to the backbone
 Free to pair with
nitrogenous bases of other
polynucleotide chain
 Polymerization of Nucleotides
 Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides.
 The nucleotides formed of purine or
pyrimedine bases linked to phosphorylated
sugars (nucleotide back bone).
 The bases are linked to the pentose sugar to
form Nucleoside.
 The nucleotides contain one phosphate
group linked to the 5’ carbon of the
nucleoside.
Nucleotide = Nucleoside + Phosphate group
N.B.
 The polymerization of nucleotides to form
nucleic acids occur by condensation
reaction by making phospho-diester bond
between 5’ phosphate group of one
nucleotide and 3’ hydroxyl group of another
nucleotide.

 Polynucleotide chains are always

synthesized in the 5’ to 3’ direction, with a
free nucleotide being added to the 3’ OH
group of a growing chain.
 Complementary base pairing
 It is the most important structural feature of
nucleic acids
 It connects bases of one polynucleotide
chain (nucleotide polymer) with
complementary bases of other chain
 Complementary bases are bonded together
via:
 Double hydrogen bond between A and T (DNA), A
and U (RNA) (A═T or A═U)
 Triple H-bond between G and C in both DNA or
RNA (G≡C)
Base pairing
 Significance of complementary
base pairing
 The importance of such complementary base
pairing is that each strand of DNA can act as
template to direct the synthesis of other
strand similar to its complementary one.

 Thus nucleic acids are uniquely capable of

directing their own self replication.

 The information carried by DNA and RNA

direct the synthesis of specific proteins
which control most cellular activities.
 DNA structure
 DNA is a double stranded molecule consists of 2
polynucleotide chains running in opposite
directions.
 Both strands are complementary to each other.
 The bases are on the inside of the molecules
and the 2 chains are joined together by double
H-bond between A and T and triple H-bond
between C and G.
 The base pairing is very specific which make the
2 strands complementary to each other.
 So each strand contain all the required
information for synthesis (replication) of a new
copy to its complementary.
 Forms of DNA
1- B-form helix:
 Itis the most common form of DNA in
cells.
 Right-handed helix
 Turn every 3.4 nm.
 Each turn contain 10 base pairs (the distance
between each 2 successive bases is 0.34 nm)
 Contain 2 grooves;
 Major groove (wide): provide easy access to bases
 Minor groove (narrow): provide poor access.
2- A-form DNA:
 Less common form of DNA , more common in
RNA
 Right handed helix
 Each turn contain 11 b.p/turn
 Contain 2 different grooves:
 Major groove: very deep and narrow
 Minor groove: very shallow and wide (binding site for RNA)

3- Z-form DNA:
 Radical change of B-form
 Left handed helix, very extended
 It is GC rich DNA regions.
 The sugar base backbone form Zig-Zag shape
 The B to Z transition of DNA molecule may play a role in
gene regulation.
Denaturing and Annealing of DNA
 The DNA double strands can denatured if
heated (95ºC) or treated with chemicals.
 AT regions denature first (2 H bonds)
 GC regions denature last (3 H bonds)

 DNA denaturation is a reversible process, as

denatured strands can re-annealed again if
cooled.

 This process can be monitored using the

hyperchromicity (melting profile).
 Hyperchromicity (melting profile)
 It is used to monitor the DNA denaturation and
annealing.

 It is based on the fact that single stranded (SS)

DNA gives higher absorbtion reading than
double stranded (DS) at wavelength 260º.

 Using melting profile we can differentiate

between single stranded and double stranded
DNA.
 Hyperchromicity (melting profile)
Using melting profile we can differentiate between SS DNA and DS
DNA

SS

SS
Ab260

DS

Tm
Temperature

Tm (melting temp.): temp. at which 50% of DS DNA denatured to SS

•Heating of SS DNA: little rise of Ab reading
• Heating of DS DNA: high rise of Ab reading
 Melting profile continue…..
 Melting profile can be also used to give
an idea about the type of base pair rich
areas using the fact that:
 A═T rich regions: denatured first (low melting point)
 G≡C rich regions: denatured last (higher melting
point)
SS
AT rich DNA
Tm1: Small melting temp. of AT rich
GC/AT DNA
DNA
GC rich DNA
Tm2: higher melting temp. of AT/GC
equal DNA

Tm3: Highest melting temp. of GC rich DS

DNA

Tm1 Tm2 Tm3

 RNA structure
 It is formed of linear polynucleotide
 It is generally single stranded
 The pentose sugar is Ribose
 Uracile (U) replace Thymine (T) in the
pyrimidine bases.

Although RNA is generally single stranded,

intra-molecular H-bond base pairing occur
between complementary bases on the same
molecule (secondary structure)
 Types of RNA
 Messenger RNA (mRNA):
 Carries genetic information copied from DNA in the form of
a series of 3-base code, each of which specifies a particular
amino acid.
 Transfer RNA (tRNA):
 It is the key that read the code on the mRNA.
 Each amino acid has its own tRNA, which binds to it and
carries it to the growing end of a polypeptide chain.
 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA):
 Associated with a set of proteins to form the ribosomes.
 These complex structures, which physically move along the
mRNA molecule, catalyze the assembly of amino acids into
protein chain.
 They also bind tRNAs that have the specific amino acids
according to the code.
 RNA structure
 RNA is a single stranded
polynucleotide molecule.

 It can take 3 levels of structure;

 Primary: sequence of nucleotides
 Secondary: hairpin loops (base pairing)
 Tertiary: motifs and 3D foldings
RNA structure

Transfer RNA (tRNA) structure

 DNA Replication
 Replication of the DNA molecule is semi-conservative,
which means that each parent strand serves as a
template for a new strand and that the two (2) new
DNA molecules each have one old and one new
strand.

 DNA replication requires:

 A strand of DNA to serve as a template
 Substrates - deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates
(dATP, dGTP, dCTP, dTTP).
 DNA polymerase - an enzyme that brings the
substrates to the DNA strand template
 A source of chemical energy to drive this synthesis
reaction.
 DNA Replication
 Nucleotides are always added to the growing strand
at the 3' end (end with free -OH group).

 The hydroxyl group reacts with the phosphate group

on the 5' C of the deoxyribose so the chain grows

 Energy is released when the bound linking 2 of the 3

phosphate groups to the deoxyribonucleoside
triphosphate breaks

 Remaining phosphate group becomes part of the

sugar-phosphate backbone
Step 1 - Unwinding and Exposing
Strands
 DNAstrands are unwound and opened by
enzymes called HELICASES

 Helicases
act at specific places called
ORIGINS OF REPLICATION

 Synthesis of new DNA strands proceeds in

both directions from an origin of replication
resulting in a bubble with REPLICATION
FORKS at each growing point.
Step 2 - Priming the Strand
 In order to begin making a new strand, a helper
strand called a PRIMER is needed to start the
strand.

 DNA polymerase, an enzyme, can then add

nucleotides to the 3' end of the primer.

 Primer is a short, single strand of RNA (ribonucleic

acid) and is complimentary to the DNA template
strand.

 Primers are formed by enzymes called PRIMASES.

Step 3 - Strand Elongation
 DNA Polymerase III catalyses elongation of new
DNA strands in prokaryotes

 Two molecules of DNA polymerase III clamp

together at the replication forks, each acting on 1
of the strands

 One strand exposed at its 3' end produces a

daughter strand which elongates from its 5' to 3'
end and is called the LEADING STRAND. This
strand is synthesized continuously and grows
from 5' to 3'.
 Step 3 - Strand Elongation
 The second daughter strand is called the
LAGGING STRAND and is antiparallel to the
leading strand. It’s template is exposed from the
5' to 3' end but it must direct the 5' to 3' synthesis
of the lagging strands, since nucleotides are
added at the 3' end of the chain.

 The lagging strand is constructed in small,

backward directed bits consisting of
discontinuous sections of 100-200 nucleotides in
eukaryotes and 1000-2000 nucleotides in
prokaryotes, called OKAZAKI FRAGMENTS.
 Step 3 - Strand Elongation
When an Okazaki fragment forms:
DNA polymerase I removes the RNA primer and
replaces it with DNA adjacent to the fragment.

 leaving 1 bond between adjacent fragments

missing.

 A second enzyme called a DNA LIGASE

catalyses the formation of the final bond.
 Telomerase
 Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase that contain
an RNA template, adds nucleotides to the 3’end of
the lagging-strand template and thus prevents
shortening of lagging strands during replication of
linear DNA molecules such as those of eukaryotic
chromosomes.