DNA, Chromosomes and the Nucleus

DNA Structure

 What are some of the important structural features of the DNA double helix?

DNA Structure  In addition to B-DNA what other forms exist?

DNA Structure  What is supercoiled DNA and what effect does it have?  Can it occur in linear DNA molecules?

DNA Structure  What is the difference between topoisomerases and DNA gyrase?  How can one bring about the denaturation and renaturation of DNA?

DNA Structure

 What is the DNA melting temperature?

Genomic DNA  How do we define the term “genome”?  How is genomic size expressed?  Is there a relationship between genomic size and complexity of the organism or virus?

Genomic DNA

 What are restriction enzymes and how have they helped us to study DNA?

Genomic DNA  How can restriction fragments be characterized?

Genomic DNA  How is restriction mapping carried out and what information does it provide?

Genomic DNA  How is the chain termination method of Sanger used to determine the sequence of a DNA molecule?

Genomic DNA  What is bioinformatics and proteomics?  How much variation is there in the human genome?

Genomic DNA  How did the work of Britten and Kohne help explain why eukaryotic genomes are so large?

Genomic DNA  What is the difference between tandemly repeated DNA versus interspersed repeated DNA?

Genomic DNA  What are the possible functions of this tandemly repeated DNA?  What about the role of this DNA fingerprinting?  in certain genetic diseases?

DNA Packaging  How is the bacterial genome structured to fit inside of the small cell?  What are bacterial plasmids?

DNA Packaging  What is the relationship between DNA and chromosomes in eukaryotic cells?  What are nucleosomes?

DNA Packaging  What experimental evidence supported the existence of nucleosomes?

DNA Packaging  How is the nucleosome organized? Where is the H1 histone protein?

DNA Packaging  How are nucleosomes packaged to form chromosomes?  What is the DNA packing ratio?

DNA Packaging  How does mitocondrial and chloroplast DNA compare with nuclear DNA?

Nucleus  What do we know about nuclear structure?

Nucleus  What are the major features of the nuclear pore complex?

Nucleus  What kinds of molecules are transported across the nuclear envelope?

Nucleus  How are molecules transported across the nuclear envelope?

Nucleus  What role does the nuclear matrix serve?  What role does the nuclear lamina serve?  What is the function of the nucleolus?