Chapter 14: DNA Structure and Function (Openstax) | Google Slides

Anchoring Phenomenon: Why do we age? 👴

Central Question: How was DNA established as the molecule of heredity?.

The molecule needed to be:

1. Able to store information

2. Stable so that it can be replicated
3. Able to undergo changes (mutations)

Important Experiments

1. Isolation of nucleic acids by Miescher (A,T,G,C)

2. Frederick Griffith (R and S strain bacteria)
3. Hershey-Chase experiment on bacteriophages

14-2 The Structure of DNA

Erwin Chargaff - base pair rule ( A=T | G= C)

Rosalind Franklin - Photograph 51, double helix
Watson and Crick - Nobel prize for establishing the shape

Adenine always pairs with Thymine

Guanine always pairs with Cytosine

Side1:: A A T T G G C C A G A T A C
Side2:: T T A A C C G G T C T A T G

DNA is composed of subunits called nucleotides,

Each nucleotide consists of: a phosphate, a sugar
(deoxyribose), and a base, arranged ANTIPARALLEL

5’ and 3’ ends
14-3: DNA Replication -the process by which DNA makes a copy of itself; occurs during
interphase, prior to cell division, within the nucleus of the cell

1. DNA helicase (enzyme) unwinds the DNA at the replication fork.

2. DNA polymerase adds complementary nucleotides, traveling from the 3' to the 5' end. (template)
3. DNA polymerase adds complementary nucleotides on the other side of the ladder.
Traveling in the opposite direction.
4. One side is the leading strand - it follows the helicase as it unwinds.
5. The other side is the lagging strand - moving away from the helicase (in the 5' to 3' direction).

* Problem: it reaches the replication fork, but the helicase is moving in the opposite direction. It stops, and
another polymerase binds farther down the chain. This process creates several fragments, called Okazaki
Fragments, that are bound together by DNA ligase.

DNA Replication

1. _____________________________ Enzyme that unwinds DNA

2. _____________________________ Fragments of copied DNA created on the lagging strand
3. _____________________________ The strand that is copied in a continuous way, from the 3’ to 5’ direction
4. _____________________________ Binds Okazaki fragments
5. _____________________________ Builds a new DNA strand by adding complementary bases
6. _____________________________ Stabilizes the DNA molecule during replication
7. _____________________________ Strand that is copied discontinuously because it is traveling away from helicase
8. _____________________________ Initiates the synthesis DNA by creating a short RNA segment at replication fork

9. Place the events in the correct order:

____ DNA polymerase adds nucleotides in the 5’ to 3’ direction
____ Replication fork is formed
____ DNA polymerase attaches to the primer
____ Okazaki fragments are bound together by ligase
____ DNA helicase unwinds DNA

10. Why is replication called “semi-conservative?” ___________________________________________________

Mutations in DNA

Substitution | Insertion / Deletion | Duplication | CNVs

CAG and Huntingtons CNVs and Amylase

Telomeres - caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes, like the plastic tips at the end of
shoelaces. Telomeres shorten with each DNA copy (cell division). Could they be related to aging?
Name:___________________________________________ Date:________

DNA REPLICATION MODEL

Identify each of the components of the

model:

1. ____________________________

2. ____________________________

3. ____________________________

4. ____________________________

5. ____________________________

6. ____________________________

7. ____________________________

8. ____________________________

9. Identify the 5’ and 3’ ends.

10. Adapt this model to include

enzymes involved in replication. Draw
a representation of:
- DNA helicase
- DNA polymerase