Molecular genetics 30 September 2010 Donald Winslow
Molecular genetics Protein synthesis from gene to polypeptide Structure & function of DNA – Replication & transcription Structure & function of RNA – Translation Different types of RNA & roles in translation Causes & consequences of gene mutations Gene regulation by operons
Process of protein synthesis genes in DNA messenger RNA polypeptide Transcription Translation
Structure of DNA Double helix 2 antiparallel strands Each with a phosphodiester backbone Deoxyribose Nucleotide bases – Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine
Antiparallel complementary strands 5’3’ 5’ Phosphodiester backbone ACGCTGCAAT TGGGCCTTAA Deoxyribose
DNA replication 5’ 3’ 5’ 3’ 5’ 3’ 5’ 3’ Template strand Leading strand Okazaki fragments Lagging strand
RNA structure differs from DNA Single-stranded instead of double-stranded Ribose instead of deoxyribose Uracil (U) instead of Thymine (T)