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The Molecular Basis of Inheritance
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Used bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) Only made up of DNA and protein Used phosphorus to “tag” the DNA in one culture of bacteriophages and sulfur to “tag” the protein in a second culture Their results showed that only DNA entered bacteria infected by the virus
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Used previous data from scientists (Rosalind Franklin) to build their model of DNA as we know it, the double helix Also used X-ray crystallography Purified samples of DNA are bombarded with X- rays, which are then diffracted depending on the pattern of the subject in question X-ray crystallography of DNA showed a helix
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1) DNA is a double helix, which can be described as a twisted ladder with the sides made up of sugar-phosphate components and the rungs made up of pairs of nitrogenous bases 2) The nitrogenous bases of DNA are adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C) ▪ A pairs with T, C pairs with G
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The two sides of the double helix are antiparallel and run in different directions One runs 5’ to 3’ (right side up) The other runs 3’ to 5’ (upside down) A double hydrogen bond binds A to T A triple hydrogen bond binds C to G
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DNA replication is semiconservative at the end of replication, each of the daughter DNA molecules has one old strand, derived from the parent strand of DNA
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Begins at origins of replication, where 2 strands of DNA separate to form replication bubbles, which speed up the process Helicases are enzymes that untwist the DNA double helix A group of enzymes called DNA polymerases catalyze the elongation of new DNA at the replication fork
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DNA polymerase adds nucleotides to the growing chain one by one, working in a 5’ to 3’ direction, matching A with T and G with C DNA replication occurs continuously along the 5’ to 3’ strand, which is called the leading strand (towards the fork) The strand that runs 3’ to 5’ is copied in segments and called the lagging strand (away from the fork)
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The lagging strand is synthesized in separate pieces called Okazaki fragments, which are then sealed together by DNA ligase
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Specificity of base pairings Mismatch repair, in which special repair enzymes fix incorrectly paired nucleotides Nucleotide excision repair, in which incorrectly placed nucleotides are excised or removed by enzymes called nucleases, and the gap left over is filled in correctly
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Each time DNA replicates, some nucleotides from the ends of the chromosomes are lost To protect against the loss of genes, eukaryotes have special nonsense nucleotide sequences at the ends of chromosomes that repeat thousands of times called telomeres
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Every time DNA replicates, telomeres get shorter (serves as a clock that counts cell divisions)
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A bacterial chromosome is one double- stranded, circular DNA molecule associated with a small amount of protein Eukaryotic chromosomes are linear DNA molecules associated with large amounts of protein Eukaryotic cells contain chromatin, packed DNA and proteins
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1) Nucleosome DNA wrapped around proteins called histones This complex resembles beads on a string and is termed a nucleosome, the basic unit of DNA packaging 2) 30nm Fiber Strings of nucleosomes fold to form a 30nm fiber
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3) Looped Domains of 300nm Further folding of the 30nm fiber 4) Metaphase chromosome Folding of looped domains
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