DNA Structure and Replication

This collection of flashcards covers key vocabulary and concepts related to the structure and replication of DNA, based on the lecture notes.

X-ray diffraction

A technique that showed DNA was helical with a uniform distance between strands.

Double helix

The structure of DNA as proposed by Watson and Crick, with two strands coiling around each other.

Sugar-phosphate backbone

The structural framework of DNA consisting of alternating sugar and phosphate groups.

Base pairing rules

Adenine pairs with Thymine (A-T) and Guanine pairs with Cytosine (G-C) in DNA.

Watson-Crick model

A model that explains the double helical structure of DNA and included complementary base pairing.

Nucleotide

The basic structural unit of DNA, consisting of a sugar, phosphate group, and nitrogenous base.

Hydrogen bonds

Weak bonds that hold the two strands of DNA together through interactions between the bases.

Semi-conservative replication

The mode of DNA replication proposed by Watson and Crick, where each strand serves as a template for a new strand.

Meselson-Stahl experiment

An experiment that confirmed the semi-conservative replication of DNA using isotopes of nitrogen.

Antiparallel strands

The orientation of DNA strands running in opposite directions (5' to 3' and 3' to 5').