DNA

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 History of DNA
• Early scientists thought
protein was the cell’s
hereditary material because
it was more complex than
DNA
• Proteins were composed of
20 different amino acids in
long polypeptide chains
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 History of DNA
• Chromosomes are made
of both DNA and
protein
• Experiments on
bacteriophage viruses
by Hershey & Chase
proved that DNA was
the cell’s genetic
material
Radioactive 32
P was injected into bacteria!
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 Transformation
• Fred Griffith worked with
virulent S and nonvirulent R
strain Pneumoccocus bacteria
• He found that R strain could
become virulent when it took in
DNA from heat-killed S strain
• Study suggested that DNA was
probably the genetic material

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Griffith Experiment

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 1962: Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine
Watson, J.D. and F.H. Crick, “Molecular Structure of
Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxynucleic Acids”.
Nature 171 (1953), p. 738.

James D. Francis H.
Maurice H. F.
Watson Crick Wilkins

What about?
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin

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 DNA
• Stands for
Deoxyribonucleic acid
• Made up of subunits called
nucleotides
• Nucleotide made of:
1. Phosphate group
2. 5-carbon sugar
3. Nitrogenous base
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 DNA Nucleotide
Phosphate
Group

O
5
O=P-O CH2
O
O
N
Nitrogenous base
C4 C 1
(A, G, C, or T)
Sugar
(deoxyribose)
C C
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3 2
 Pentose Sugar
• Carbons are numbered clockwise
1’ to 5’ 5
CH2

C 4 C1
Sugar
(deoxyribose)
C3 C2
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 Nitrogenous Bases
• Double ring PURINES
Adenine (A)
Guanine (G) A or G

• Single ring PYRIMIDINES

Thymine (T)
Cytosine (C) T or C
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 5
DNA
O 3

3
O
P 5 P
5
O
1 G C 3
2
4 4
2 1
3 5
O
P P
5
T A 3

O
5
P 3 copyright cmassengale P
12
 DNA
• Two strands coiled called
a double helix
• Sides made of a pentose
sugar Deoxyribose bonded
to phosphate (PO4) groups
by phosphodiester bonds
• Center made of nitrogen
bases bonded together by
weak hydrogen bonds
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DNA Double Helix
“Rungs of ladder”

Nitrogenous
Base (A,T,G or C)

“Legs of ladder”

Phosphate &
Sugar Backbone

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 Helix
• Most DNA has a right-hand
twist with 10 base pairs in a
complete turn
• Left twisted DNA is called
Z-DNA or southpaw DNA
• Hot spots occur where right
and left twisted DNA meet
producing mutations
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The Molecular Basis of Inheritance

G C

A T

T A

1 nm

G C
3.4 nm
C G

A T

C G

T A

T A

A T

A T

G C
0.34 nm
A T

Figure 16.7a, c (a) Key features of DNA structure (c) Space-filling model
 Discovery of DNA
Structure
• Erwin Chargaff showed the
amounts of the four bases on
DNA ( A,T,C,G)
• In a body or somatic cell:
A = 30.3%
T = 30.3%
G = 19.5%
C = 19.9%
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 Chargaff’s Rule
• Adenine must pair with
Thymine
• Guanine must pair with
Cytosine
• The bases form weak
hydrogen bonds

T A G C
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 Base-Pairings
• Purines only pair with
Pyrimidines
• Three hydrogen bonds
required to bond Guanine
& Cytosine
3 H-bonds

G C
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•Two hydrogen bonds are
required to bond Adenine &
Thymine

T A

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 Question:
• If there is 30%
Adenine,
Adenine how much
Cytosine is present?

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 Answer:
• There would be 20%
Cytosine
• Adenine (30%) = Thymine
(30%)
• Guanine (20%) = Cytosine
(20%)
• Therefore, 60% A-T and
40% C-G
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RNA

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Roles of RNA and DNA

• DNA is the MASTER

PLAN

• RNA is the
BLUEPRINT of the
Master Plan
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 RNA Differs from DNA
• RNA has a sugar ribose
DNA has a sugar deoxyribose

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 Other Differences
• RNA contains the
base uracil (U)
DNA has thymine
(T)
• RNA molecule is
single-stranded
DNA is double-
stranded
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Structure of RNA

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.
Three Types of RNA
• Messenger RNA (mRNA) copies
DNA’s code & carries the
genetic information to the
ribosomes
• Ribosomal RNA (rRNA), along
with protein, makes up the
ribosomes
• Transfer RNA (tRNA) transfers
amino acids to the ribosomes
where proteins are synthesized
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 Messenger RNA
• Long Straight chain
of Nucleotides
• Made in the Nucleus
• Copies DNA & leaves
through nuclear
pores
• Contains the
Nitrogen Bases A, G,
C, U ( no T )

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Messenger RNA (mRNA)
• Carries the information for a
specific protein
• Made up of 500 to 1000
nucleotides long
• Sequence of 3 bases called codon
• AUG – methionine or start codon
• UAA, UAG, or UGA – stop codons

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 RNA Processing - Splicing
• The original transcript
from the DNA is called
pre-mRNA.

• It contains transcripts of
both introns and exons.

• The introns are removed

by a process called
splicing to produce
messenger RNA (mRNA)
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
• rRNA is a single
strand 100 to 3000
nucleotides long
• Globular in shape
• Made inside the
nucleus of a cell
• Associates with
proteins to form
ribosomes
• Site of protein
Synthesis
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Transfer RNA (tRNA)
• Clover-leaf shape
• Single stranded molecule with
attachment site at one end
for an amino acid
• Opposite end has three
nucleotide bases called the
anticodon

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 Transfer RNA
amino acid
attachment site

U A C
anticodon
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 Transfer RNA
• Consists of a single RNA strand that is only about 80 nucleotides long
• Each carries a specific amino acid on one end and has an anticodon on
the other end
• A special group of enzymes pairs up the proper tRNA molecules with
their corresponding amino acids.
• tRNA brings the amino acids to the ribosomes,

3
Amino acid A
C
attachment site C
A 5
C G
The “anticodon” is the 3 RNA bases that G C
C G
matches the 3 bases of the codon on the U G
U A
mRNA molecule A U
U C A U
* C A C AG UA A G *
G * C U C
G U G U * G
*
C C G A G
* * U C * A G G
* G AG C
(a) Two-dimensional structure. The four base-paired regions and three G C Hydrogen
loops are characteristic of all tRNAs, as is the base sequence of the U A bonds
amino acid attachment site at the 3 end. The anticodon triplet is * G
A
unique to each tRNA type. (The asterisks mark bases that have been A* C
chemically modified, a characteristic of tRNA.) * U
A G
A
Anticodon
 Codons and Anticodons

• The 3 bases of an
anticodon are
complementary to
the 3 bases of a
UGA
codon
• Example: Codon ACU
ACU
Anticodon UGA

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 The Genetic Code
• A codon designates an amino
acid
• An amino acid may have more
than one codon
• There are 20 amino acids,
but 64 possible codons
• Some codons tell the
ribosome to stop translating
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Genetic Code
 The Genetic Code
•Use the
code by
reading from
the center to
the outside
•Example:
AUG codes
for
Methionine

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 Name the Amino Acids
• GGG?
• UCA?
• CAU?
• GCA?
• AAA?

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 CHARECTERISTICS:
• Universal
• Specific
• Non-Overlapping
• Degenerative (Wobble
hypothesis)

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