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Molecular biology
Field of science concerned with the chemical
structures and processes of biological phenomena
at the molecular level. Having developed out of the
related fields of biochemistry, genetics, and
biophysics, the discipline is particularly concerned
with the study of proteins, nucleic acids, and
enzymes. In the early 1950s, growing knowledge of
the structure of proteins enabled the structure of
DNA to be described. The discovery in the 1970s of
certain types of enzymes that can cut and
recombine segments of DNA (recombination) in the
chromosomes of certain bacteria made
recombinant-DNA technology possible. Molecular
biologists use that technology to isolate and modify
specific gene
Molecular Biology
• Nucleic acids and nucleoprotein structure.
• Replication.
• Transcription.
• Regulation of gene expression.
• Restriction enzymes & its function in DNA technology.
• Gene cloning .
• Production of recombinant plasmid.
• Construction of genomic and DNA libraries.
• Analyzing & sequencing cloned DNA.
• Analysis of specific nucleic acids in complex mixtures
• polymerase chain reaction (PCR),mutation .
Deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic
instructions used in the development and
functioning of all known living organisms. The main
role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of
information and DNA is often compared to a set of
blueprints, since it contains the instructions needed
to construct other components of cells, such as
proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments
that carry this genetic information are called genes,
but other DNA sequences have structural purposes,
or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic
information.
• In living organisms, DNA does not usually
exist as a single molecule, but instead as a
tightly-associated pair of molecules. These
two long strands entwine like vines, in the
shape of a double helix. The nucleotide
repeats contain both the segment of the
backbone of the molecule, which holds the
chain together, and a base, which interacts
with the other DNA strand in the helix. In
general, a base linked to a sugar is called a
nucleoside and a base linked to a sugar and
one or more phosphate groups is called a
nucleotide. If multiple nucleotides are
linked together, as in DNA, this polymer is
referred to as a polynucleotide.
• Nucleotide structure
• A nucleotide is composed of a nucleobase (nitrogenous base), a
five-carbon sugar (either ribose or 2'-deoxyribose), and one to
three phosphate groups. Together, the nucleobase and sugar
comprise a nucleoside. The phosphate groups form bonds with
either the 2, 3, or 5-carbon of the sugar, with the 5-carbon site
most common. Cyclic nucleotides form when the phosphate group
is bound to two of the sugar's hydroxyl groups. Ribonucleotides are
nucleotides where the sugar is ribose, and deoxyribonucleotides
contain the sugar deoxyribose. Nucleotides can contain either a
purine or pyrimidine base.
• Nucleic acids are polymeric macromolecules made from nucleotide
monomers. In DNA, the purine bases are adenine and guanine,
while the pyrimidines are thymine and cytosine. RNA uses uracil in
place of thymine.
• Synthesis
• Nucleotides can be synthesized by a variety of means both in vitro
and in vivo. In vivo, nucleotides can be synthesised de novo or
recycled through salvage pathways. Nucleotides undergo
breakdown such that useful parts can be reused in synthesis
reactions to create new nucleotides. In vitro, protecting groups
may be used during laboratory production of nucleotides. A
purified nucleoside is protected to create a phosphoramidite,
which can then be used to obtain analogues not found in nature
and/or to synthesize an oligonucleotide
DNA's duplex nature
• DNA is normally double-stranded. The sequences of
the two strands are related so that an A on one
strand is matched by a T on the other strand;
likewise, a G on one strand is matched by a C on the
other strand. Thus, the fraction of bases in an
organism's DNA that are A is equal to the fraction of
bases that are T, and the fraction of bases that are G
is equal to the fraction of bases that are C. For
example, if one-third of the bases are A, one-third
must be T, and because the amount of G equals the
amount of C, one-sixth of the bases will be G and
one-sixth will be C. The importance of this
relationship, termed Chargraff's rules, was
recognized by Watson and Crick, who proposed that
the two strands form a double helix with the two
strands arranged in an antiparallel fashion,
interwound head-to-tail
• In a double helix the direction of the nucleotides
in one strand is opposite to their direction in the
other strand. This arrangement of DNA strands is
called antiparallel. The asymmetric ends of DNA
strands are referred to as the 5′ (five prime) and
3′ (three prime) ends.
• One of the major differences between DNA and
RNA is the sugar, with 2-deoxyribose being
replaced by the alternative pentose sugar ribose
in RNA.
• Usually,we read nucleic acid sequences of DNA in
a 5′ to 3′ direction, so a DNA dinucleotide of (51)
adenosine-guanosine (31) is read as AG.
• The complementary sequence is CT, because
both sequences are read in the 5′ to 3′ direction.
The terms 5′ and 3′ refer to the numbers of the
carbons on the sugar portion of the nucleotide
(the base is attached to the 1′ carbon of the
sugar).
•Chemically, DNA is a long polymer of simple units called nucleotides, with a
backbone made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds.
Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is
the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes
information.
Nucleotides
DNA is a long polymer made from repeating units called nucleotides.[The DNA chain is 22 to
26 Angstroms' wide (2.2 to 2.6 nanometres), and one nucleotide unit is 3.3 Ångstroms
(0.33 nanometres) long. Although each individual repeating unit is very small, DNA polymers can be
enormous molecules containing millions of nucleotides. For instance, the largest human
chromosome, chromosome number 1, is 220 million base pairs long.
Major and minor grooves
The double helix is a right-handed spiral. As the
DNA strands wind around each other, they leave
gaps between each set of phosphate backbones,
revealing the sides of the bases inside
Two of these grooves twisting around the surface
of the double helix: one groove, the major groove,
is 22 Å wide and the other, the minor groove, is
12 Å wide. The narrowness of the minor groove
means that the edges of the bases are more
accessible in the major groove. As a result,
proteins like transcription factors that can bind to
specific sequences in double-stranded DNA usually
make contacts to the sides of the bases exposed in
the major groove
Base pairing
Each type of base on one strand forms a bond with
just one type of base on the other strand. This is
called complementary base pairing. Here, purines
form hydrogen bonds to pyrimidines, with A
bonding only to T, and C bonding only to G. This
arrangement of two nucleotides binding together
across the double helix is called a base pair. In a
double helix, the two strands are also held together
via forces generated by the hydrophobic effect and
pi stacking, which are not influenced by the
sequence of the DNA. As hydrogen bonds are not
covalent, they can be broken and rejoined relatively
easily. The two strands of DNA in a double helix can
therefore be pulled apart like a zipper, either by a
mechanical force or high temperature. As a result of
this complementarity, all the information in the
double-stranded sequence of a DNA helix is
duplicated on each strand, which is vital in DNA
replication. Indeed, this reversible and specific
interaction between complementary base pairs is
critical for all the functions of DNA in living
organisms.
The two types of base pairs
form different numbers of
hydrogen bonds, AT forming
two hydrogen bonds, and GC
forming three hydrogen
bonds. The GC base pair is
therefore stronger than the AT
base pair. As a result, it is both
the percentage of GC base
pairs and the overall length of
a DNA double helix that
determine the strength of the
association between the two
strands of DNA.
Long DNA helices with a high GC content have stronger-
interacting strands, while short helices with high AT content
have weaker-interacting strands.
Parts of the DNA double helix that need to separate easily, such
as the TATAAT Pribnow box in bacterial promoters, tend to
have sequences with a high AT content, making the strands
easier to pull apart.
Sense and antisense
A DNA sequence is called "sense" if its sequence is the same as
that of a messenger RNA copy that is translated into protein.
The sequence on the opposite strand is complementary to the
sense sequence and is therefore called the "antisense" sequence.
Since RNA polymerases work by making a complementary copy
of their templates, it is this antisense strand that is the template
for producing the sense messenger RNA. Both sense and
antisense sequences can exist on different parts of the same
strand of DNA (i.e. both strands contain both sense and
antisense sequences).
Biological molecules that prefer to form strands. Wilkins
worked on the DNA project with Rosalind Franklin, who
took the X-ray photograph that gave Watson and Crick their
eureka moment. He then spent almost 10 years rigorously
verifying that breakthrough.
( THE BIOINFORMATION
THEORY)
Central Dogma of Biology
Replication
• Replication
• Chromosomes are located in the nucleus of a cell. DNA
must be duplicated in a process called replication before a
cell divides. The replication of DNA allows each daughter
cell to contain a full complement of chromosomes.
• DNA Replication:
• Semiconservative Model of DNA Replication
After Watson and Crick proposed the double helix model of
DNA, three models for DNA replication were proposed:
conservative, semiconservative, and dispersive. The
semiconservative model was proved to be the correct one
Semiconservative DNA replication
The two strands in the double helix
separate, and then each strand serves as
template for the synthesis of a new
(complementary) strand. After
replication has been completed, each of
the two duplexes has one old and one
newly synthesized strand.
and dispersive modes of replication do
not make much sense, and are not
supported by experiments.
Eukaryotic DNA replication is
semiconservative
Eukaryotic DNA replicates Semiconservatively
by the Taylor, Woods, and Hughes experiment
in 1958.
They labeled DNA with 3H-T, treated the roots
of Fava bean with Colchicin, fixed and prepared
for microscopy. At the first metaphase, after
labeling at interphase, both chromatids of each
chromosome ere labeled, whereas at the
second metaphase only one chromatide was
labeled
How does this show semiconservative
replication?
The DNA double helix and genetic replication
• DNA polymerase:
• Location: On the template strands.
• Function: Synthesizes new DNA in the 5' to 3' direction using the base
information on the template strand to specify the nucleotide to insert
on the new chain. Also does some proofreading; that is, it checks that
the new nucleotide being added to the chain carries the correct base
as specified by the template DNA. If an incorrect base pair is formed,
DNA polymerase can delete the new nucleotide and try again.
• • Lagging Strand:
• The new DNA strand made discontinuously in the
direction opposite to the direction in which the
replication fork is moving.
• • Leading strand:
• The new DNA strand made continuously in the
same direction as movement of the replication
fork.
• • Okazaki fragment:
• Location: On the template strand which dictates
new DNA synthesis away from the direction of
replication fork movement.
• Function: A building block for DNA synthesis of
the lagging strand. On one template strand, DNA
polymerase synthesizes new DNA in a direction
away from the replication fork movement.
Because of this, the new DNA synthesized on that
template is made in a discontinuous fashion; each
segment is called an Okazaki fragment.
• • Helicase:
• Location: At the replication fork.
• Function: Unwinds the DNA double
helix.
• • Primase:
• Location: Wherever the synthesis of a
new DNA fragment is to commence.
Function: DNA polymerase cannot start
the synthesis of a new DNA chain, it can
only extend a nucleotide chain primer.
• Single-strand binding (SSB) proteins:
Primase synthesizes a short RNA chain
Location: On single-stranded DNA
that is used as the primer for DNA
near the replication fork.
synthesis by DNA polymerase.
Function: Binds to single-stranded
DNA to make it stable.
• Overall direction of
replication (movement
of replication fork):
The direction of replication i.e.,
the direction in which the
replication fork moves as the
DNA double helix unwinds.
• Parent DNA:
The parental DNA double helix
that will be unwound and used
as the template for new DNA
synthesis.