DNA Structure and Function

Deoxyribonucleic acid

DNA

Ribonucleic acid

RNA

Genetic Information

What is DNA in every cell?

Proteins

DNA holds the instruction for making these.

Sequence of Nitrogen Bases

Determines the traits of an organism.

Genes

Units of heredity passed from parents to offspring.

Gene

A section of a DNA molecule that codes for a specific trait (protein)

James Watson and Frances Crick

Published a paper describing DNA as a double helix, or a twisted ladder.

1953

Year that Watson and Crick described DNA as a double helix.

Nobel Prize

What did the discovery of Watson and Crick won?

Rosalind Franklin

Did much of the research about the DNA, but was not given credit because she was a woman.

Radiation Exposure

How did Rosalind Franklin died?

Nucleotide

Monomer

Monomer

Nucleotide

Nucleic Acid

Biomolecule

Biomolecule

Nucleic Acid

DNA Nucleotide

1. Deoxyribose sugar

2. Phosphate

3. Nitrogenous bases: AT GC

Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine

Nitrogenous base of DNA

Adenine, Uracil, Guanine, Cytosine

Nitrogenous base of RNA

Sugar-Phosphate Backbone

Alternating sugars and phosphates are the sides of the ladder.

Nitrogenous Base Pairs

The steps/rungs of the ladder.

Antiparallel

The strands are side by side but run in opposite directions.

5’ to 3’

Direction of DNA

Hydrogen Bonding

Holds the two strands of a DNA molecule together.

AT, CG

Complementary Base-Pairing of DNA

Deoxyribose

DNA Sugar

Ribose

RNA Sugar

Double-stranded with base pairing

DNA Strands

Single-stranded

RNA Strands

DNA Replication

DNA is exactly copied, making two identical molecules of DNA.

Prokaryotic Cells

Cells that takes place in the cytoplasm.

Eukaryotic Cells

Cells that takes place in the nucleus.

Helicase

The parents DNA is unzipped by this, breaking the hydrogen bonds between the two strands.

Enzyme

-ase

Two parent strands of DNA

Used as templates for building two new stands of DNA.

Polymerase

Adds nucleotides according to base-pairing rules.

Connected

The sugar-phosphate backbones of the new DNA strands are what?

Adds nucleotides

Function of polymerase to new stands of DNA according to base-pairing rules.

Corrects any errors

It proof reads the new strands of DNA.

Semi-conservative

Each new DNA molecule has one parent strand and one daughter strand.