Molecular Basis of Inheritance

DNA (Polynucleotide)

DNA

A DEOXYRIBOSE
NITROGENOUS A PHOSPHATE
PENTOSE
BASE GROUP
SUGAR

PURINE PYRIMIDINE

ADENINE CYTOSINE
GUANINE THYMINE

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DNA

 Nitrogenous base is linked to pentose sugar through a n-

glycosidic linkage to form a nucleoside.
 Phosphate group attached to5’-OH of a nucleoside through
phospho-ester linkage, and a nucleotide is formed.
 Two nucleotides are linked through 3’-5’ phosphodiester linkage
to form a dinucleotide, and in this manner many nucleotides are
linked forming polynucleotide.
 A polynucleotide has a free sugar at its5’ end and a free
phosphate at its 3’ end.

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Double helix model of DNA
( Watson and Crick model)
 DNA is made of 2 polynucleotides.
 Backbone is formed by sugar and phosphate.
 Nitrogen bases project inside.
 Hydrogen bonds between nitrogen bases hold the chain
together.
 Adenine pairs with thymine through 2 hydrogen bonds and
guanine with cytosine with 3 bonds.
 Two chains have antiparallel polarity.
 Two chains are coiled in a right handed fashion. And pitch of
each helix is3.4nm, and 10 base pairs in each turn.

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A NUCLEOSOME

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Griffith’s experiment on transformation

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DNA is the genetic material

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 Characteristics of genetic material

 Able to generate its replica.

 Chemically and structurally stable.
 Provide the scope for mutation necessary for
evolution.
 Able to express itself in the form of Mendalian
character.

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RNA (Polynucleotide)

RNA

A
NITROGENOUS A PHOSPHATE
PENTOSE
BASE GROUP
SUGAR

PURINE PYRIMIDINE

ADENINE CYTOSINE
GUANINE URACIL

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TYPES OF RNA

RNA

TRANSFER/
MESSENGER RIBOSOMAL
SOLUBLE
mRNA rRNA
tRNA

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A tRNA MOLECULE

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Semiconservative replication of DNA

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Meselson- Stahl experiment
(semiconservative replication)

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Replication of DNA
(schematic representation)

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 A TRANSCRIPTION UNIT

 A promoter
 Structural genes
 A terminator

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A TRANSCRIPTION UNIT

Transcription

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TRANSCRIPTION IN PROKARYOTES

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 GENETIC CODE

 Codons are triplets

 61 codons code for 20 amino acids.
 Unambigous – each coden codes for only one/ particular amino
acid.
 Degenerate – some amino acids are coded by more than one
codon.
 Commaless –codons are read in continuous manner in a 5’ to 3’
direction without punctuation
 Universal –codes for same amino acid in any organism.
 AUG- initiation codon and codes for methionine.
 UAA, UAG and UGA are stop codons..

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MUTATION

MUATION

POINT FRAME SHIFT SILENT

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TRANSLATION

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TRANSLATION

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TRANSLATION

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 COMPONENTS OF OPERON

 Structural gene
 Promoter gene
 Operator
 Regulator gene
 Inducer

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LAC OPERON IN E.COLI

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LAC OPERON IN E.COLI

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GOALS OF HUMAN GENOME PROJECT (HGP)

 Identification of all genes

 Determination of the sequence of the 3 billion base pairs in human
DNA.
 To store the information in data base.
 Improvement of the tools for data analysis
 Transfer of the technology to other sectors (industries)
 To address the ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) that may arise
from this project.

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 METHODOLOGIES OF HGP

 Expressed sequence tags (ESTs)- identifying all genes

that expressed as RNA.
 Sequence annotation- sequence the whole sequence of
genome, that included all coding and noncoding
sequences and later assigning function to different
regions in the sequence.

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SALIENT FEATURES OF HUMAN GENOME

 Contains3164.7 million nucleotides.

 Size of genes varies, average size contains 3000 bases, the largest
gene dystrophin contains 2.4 million bases.
 Total no. genes about 30000 and99.9 % of the nucleotides are
same in all humans.
 Function of 50% genes are not known.
 2% of the genome codes for protein.
 Repetitive sequence make up large portion of genome which throw
light on structure, dynamics and evolution though they do not have
coding function.
 In 1.4 million locations DNA differs in single base.
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 USES OF HGP

 To diagnose, treat and prevent a number of disease or

disorder that affects human beings.
 Provides clues to the understanding of human biology.

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THE PROCESS OF DNA FINGER PRINTING

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STEPS OF DNA FINGERPRINTING

 Extraction
 Amplification
 Restriction digestion
 Separation of DNA sequence/ restriction fragments
 Southern blotting
 Hybridisation
 Autoradiography

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 USES OF DNA FINGERPRINTING

 To identify criminals
 To determine the true biological mother or father in
case of disputes
 To verify an immigrant, really a close relative of a
resident
 To identify racial groups to rewrite the biological
evolution.

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PRESENTATION BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

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