12.1 Identifying the Substance of Genes

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes THINK ABOUT IT How do genes work? To answer that question, the first thing you need to know is what genes are made of. How would you go about figuring out what molecule or molecules go into making a gene?

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Griffith’s Experiments Griffith isolated two different strains of the same bacterial species. One was harmless, one caused disease.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Griffith’s Experiments

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Griffith’s Experiments 1.) Griffith took a culture of the S strain, 2.) Heated the cells to kill them 3.) Then injected the heat-killed bacteria into laboratory mice. 4.) The mice survived.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Griffith’s Experiments In Griffith’s next experiment, he mixed the heat-killed, S-strain bacteria with live, harmless bacteria from the R strain and injected the mixture into laboratory mice. The injected mice developed pneumonia, and many died.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Griffith’s Experiments What happened???

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Transformation DNA transformed the good bacteria into disease-causing bacteria.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Transformation He called this process transformation, because one type of bacteria had been changed permanently into another.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Oswald Avery Used enzymes to kill off proteins, lipids, carbs and RNA. Transformation still occurred. DNA was the transforming factor!

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Bacterial Viruses Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase Hershey and Chase studied viruses— nonliving particles that can infect living cells.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Bacteriophages The kind of virus that infects bacteria is known as a bacteriophage, which means “bacteria eater.”

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Hershey-Chase Experiment Bacteriophage was composed of a DNA core and a protein coat. They wanted to determine which part of the virus—the protein coat or the DNA core—entered the bacterial cell.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Hershey-Chase Experiment Hershey and Chase used radioactive markers to see the DNA and protein.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes 12.2 The Structure of DNA

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Nucleic Acids and Nucleotides DNA’s nucleotides are made up of three basic components: a 5-carbon sugar called deoxyribose a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Nitrogenous Bases and Covalent Bonds DNA has four kinds of nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The nitrogenous bases stick out sideways from the nucleotide chain.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Nitrogenous Bases and Covalent Bonds The nucleotides can be joined together in any order, meaning that any sequence of bases is possible.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Chargaff’s Rules Erwin Chargaff discovered that the percentages of adenine [A] and thymine [T] bases are almost EQUAL in any sample of DNA. The same thing is true for the other two nucleotides, guanine [G] and cytosine [C]. The observation that [A] = [T] and [G] = [C] became known as one of “Chargaff’s rules.”

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Franklin’s X-Rays In the 1950s, British scientist Rosalind Franklin used X-ray diffraction. X-ray diffraction revealed an X-shaped pattern showing that the strands in DNA are twisted around each other like the coils of a spring.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Work of Watson and Crick At the same time, James Watson, an American biologist, and Francis Crick, a British physicist, were also trying to understand the structure of DNA. They built three-dimensional models of the molecule.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Work of Watson and Crick Early in 1953, Watson was shown a copy of Franklin’s X-ray pattern. The clues in Franklin’s X-ray pattern enabled Watson and Crick to build a model that explained the specific structure and properties of DNA.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Double-Helix Model Common names for the structure of DNA: - Double helix - Twisted ladder - Spiral staircase The two strands of DNA are “antiparallel” — they run in opposite directions.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Hydrogen Bonding Hydrogen bonds form between the nitrogenous bases G – C has 3 hydrogen bonds. A – T has 2 hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are weak. Why is this important to DNA’s function? DNA’s strands have to separate often!

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes 12.3 DNA Replication

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Eukaryotic Cell Cycle

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes THINK ABOUT IT Before a cell divides, its DNA must first be copied. How might the double-helix structure of DNA make that possible?

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Replication Process Before a cell divides, it duplicates its DNA in a copying process called replication.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes DNA Replication The structure of DNA explains how it replicates DNA “unzips” down the middle ATCGAATCGA TAGCTTAGCT ATCGAATCGA TAGCTTAGCT TAGCTTAGCT ATCGAATCGA OriginalExactly Copied DNA Strands Free floating nucleotides pair up with both sides of the DNA molecule ATCGAATCGA TAGCTTAGCT

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes DNA Replication This process produces two exact DNA molecules (Chromosomes) that are the same DNA never leaves the nucleus

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Role of Enzymes How does this happen?? DNA replication is carried out by a series of enzymes. They first “unzip” a molecule of DNA by breaking the hydrogen bonds between base pairs.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes The Role of Enzymes - DNA Polymerase - DNA polymerase is an enzyme that joins individual nucleotides to produce a new strand of DNA. - DNA polymerase also “proofreads”

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Replication in Living Cells How does DNA replication differ in prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells? Replication in most prokaryotic cells starts from a single point and proceeds in two directions until the entire chromosome is copied.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes Replication in Living Cells How does DNA replication differ in prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells? In eukaryotic cells, replication may begin at dozens or even hundreds of places on the DNA molecule, proceeding in both directions until each chromosome is completely copied.

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes

Lesson Overview Lesson Overview Identifying the Substance of Genes