DNA HISTORY, STRUCTURE, DNA REPLICATION, & RNA Types

DNA

deoxyribonucleic acid, nucleic acid that contains the hereditary information and information to make proteins

double helix

twisted ladder structure or shape of DNA, model created by Watson and Crick

Watson and Crick

Developed the double helix model of DNA.

nucleotide

monomer of nucleic acids made up of a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base

adenine

The nitrogenous base that pairs with Thymine in DNA

thymine

The nitrogenous base that pairs with Adenine in DNA

cytosine

The nitrogenous base that pairs with Guanine with DNA

guanine

The nitrogenous base that pairs with Cytosine in DNA

Rosalind Franklin

Woman who generated x-ray images of DNA, she povided Watson and Crick with key data about DNA

hydrogen bond

a weak bond that holds the base pairs together in the DNA double helix

Chargaff's Rule (Erwin Chargaff)

base pairing rules that state the nitrogen bases A=T and C=G, always equal amounts of A -T and C -G in a DNA molecule

nucleic acid

macromolecule containing hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus Ex: DNA and RNA

Nucleus

A part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for controlling everything in eukaryotes

Deoxyribose

5-Carbon sugar in DNA

Site or Location of DNA replication

nucleus

DNA replication

the process of making a copy of DNA, happens during the S-phase of the cell cycle

Helicase

An enzyme that untwists or unzips the double helix of DNA at the replication forks by breaking the hydrogen bond that holds the two strands together

DNA polyermase

Enzyme involved in DNA replication that joins individual nucleotides to produce a DNA molecule

leading Strand

the new complementary DNA strand synthesized continuously along the template strand toward the replication fork in the mandatory 5' to 3' direction

lagging strand

The strand that is synthesized in fragments or discontinuously using individual sections called Okazaki fragments

Anti-parallel

The opposite arrangement of the sugar-phosphate backbones in a DNA double helix. One strand runs 5' to 3' while the other runs 3' to 5'.

semi-conservative replication

Each half of an original DNA molecule serves as a template for a new strand, and the two new DNA molecules each have one old and one new strand.

Chromosomes

tightly coiled, threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes

Chromatin

granular material (uncoiled) visible within the nucleus; consists of DNA tightly coiled around proteins

RNA

ribonucleic acid

Ribose

sugar in RNA

Uracil

a nitrogen-containing base found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine

mRNA

messenger RNA; type of RNA that carries instructions from DNA in the nucleus to the ribosome-contains the codon

rRNA

ribosomal RNA; type of RNA that makes up part of the ribosome

tRNA

transfer RNA; type of RNA that carries amino acids to the ribosome-contains the anti-codon