DNA/RNA Notes

Central Dogma: the process of DNA being transcribed into mRNA and mRNA being
translated into a protein; the flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein
DNA=Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Stores genetic information (genes)
Double stranded (creates a D
ouble Helix)
RNA=Ribonucleic Acid
Single stranded
Gene: section of DNA that codes for a protein
DNA and RNA are both Nucleic Acid polymers
Monomer is a Nucleotide
Nucleotide
Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, C
y tosine, U
racil
Made of a Phosphate, Ribose/Deoxyribose Sugar, and a Nitrogenous Base
Nucleoside consists only of the Ribose/Deoxyribose Sugar and Nitrogenous
Base
Base Pairs: Nucleotides only bind to their complementary nucleotides, forming base
pairs
Adenine binds with T
hymine in DNA or U
racil in RNA (A-T/U or T/U-A)
Cytosine binds with G
uanine (C-G or G-C)
RNA types
mRNA: messenger RNA
rRNA: ribosomal RNA
tRNA: transfer RNA
RNA Polymerase: Enzyme that splits the DNA double helix and transcribes DNA into
mRNA
Promoter: Section of DNA where RNA Polymerase binds to initiate transcription
Intron: non-coding portion of mRNA (is removed while in the nucleus)
Exon: coding portion of mRNA (is not removed)
Transcription: process of transcribing DNA into mRNA
Translation: process of translating mRNA into protein, consists of three stages
Initiation: mRNA binds to Ribosome, first tRNA molecule binds
Elongation: tRNA molecules bind to mRNA codons, leaving behind a growing
chain of amino acids
Termination: mRNA chain and amino acid chain are released from Ribosome
Codon: 3-nucleotide coding sections of mRNA
Each codon corresponds to a specific amino acid
Anticodon: 3-nucleotide section of tRNA that binds to a single, specific, corresponding
codon of mRNA
Mutation: permanent change in DNA sequence

Point mutation: a single nucleotide in the DNA sequence is r eplaced with a

different nucleotide
Missense mutation: a point mutation that replaces a single amino acid in
the protein with a different amino acid
Nonsense mutation: a point mutation that creates a premature s
top
codon which prematurely ends translation
Silent mutation: a point mutation that replaces a single nucleotide in a
codon with a different nucleotide, but does NOT change the amino acid
being coded for by the codon
Frameshift mutation: a mutation that shifts the reading frame of the DNA
sequence, changing all subsequent codons
Insertion mutation: a frameshift mutation that adds a nucleotide into the
DNA sequence
Deletion mutation: a frameshift mutation that removes a single
nucleotide from the DNA sequence