DNA (12-1 and 12-2)

● Function
○ Carries the code for protein synthesis
● Double helix made up of two strands
● model of DNA discovered by Watson and Crick
● Structure
● “building blocks” of nucleic acids are nucleotides
● 3 parts of a nucleotide
○ phosphate group (side)
■ 5-carbon sugar (ribose, deoxyribose) (side)
■ nitrogeneous base (inside)
● connected by 2 or 3 hydrogen bonds
■ Purines : Adenine, Guanine (2 rings)
■ Pyrimidines: Thymine, Cytosine (3 rings)
■ AT and CG, base pairing rules

● Replication
○ Unwinds with enzymes, separates the two strands
● Each strand serves as a template
● Produces two new complementary strands following base pairing

RNA (12-3)
● Responsible for...
○ mRNA transfers portions of DNA’s code from nucleus to ribosome
○ rRNA makes up ribosome
○ tRNA transfers amino acid for each codon
● Structure
○ same as DNA, except...
○ Sugar in RNA is ribose instead of deoxyribose
○ single-stranded
○ uracil instead of thymine
● Transcription
○ copying part of DNA sequence into complementary sequence in RNA
○ separates DNA strands
○ uses part of 1 strand of DNA as a template, and nucleotides are assembled into
a strand of RNA
● RNA editing
○ introns bad
○ exons good
 ○ allows evolution, and small changes in DNA sequences to have dramatic effect in
gene expression
● A codon is three consecutive nucleotides specifying a single amino acid.
● Translation
○ Cell uses information from mRNA to produce proteins
○ mRNA attaches to ribosome
○ mRNA goes through ribosome
○ tRNA attaches proper amino acids to growing protein chain
○ has amino acid and 3 unpaired bases, anticodons, complementary to mRNA
codon
● Proteins made in ribosome

Mutations (12-4)
○ gene mutations - in a single gene
■ point mutations (1 or few nucleotides change)
● substitution
● insertion + deletion
■ frameshift mutations shift reading frame of genetic message
● insertion + deletion
○ chromosomal mutations - in whole chromosomes
■ deletion : loss of all/part of a chromosome
■ duplication : extra copies of parts of a chromosome
■ inversion : reverse directions of parts of a chromosome
■ translocation : part of a chromosoome breaks off and attaches to another

DNA RNA
Master Plan Blueprint

Stays in Nucleus Can go out of nucleus

Double stranded Single stranded

Contains thymine Contains uracil

Has deoxyribose Has ribose

entire DNA code segments of DNA