GENERAL BIOLOGY THIRD QUARTER

Coverage: DNA
• Types and Properties of Solids  The genetic material found in all living organisms.
• Heating and Cooling Curve  It is found in the nucleus of eukaryotes and in the
• organelles, chloroplast, and mitochondria.
 In prokaryotes, the DNA is not enclosed in a
CENTRAL DOGMA OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY membranous envelope.
MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF DNA, RNA AND  The entire genetic content of a cell is known as its
PROTEINS genome, and the study of genomes is genomics.
 DNA controls all the
NUCLEIC ACIDS cellular activities by
 The most important macromolecules for the turning the genes “on”
continuity of life. or “off”.
 They carry the genetic blueprint of a cell and carry  Double-stranded helix
instructions for the functioning of the cell.  Adenine and thymine
 The two main types of nucleic acids are: are complementary
DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid base pairs forming 2
RNA – ribonucleic acid hydrogen bonds.
 DNA and RNA are made up of monomers known as  Cytosine and guanine
nucleotides. are also
 The nucleotides combine with each other to form complementary base
a polynucleotide, DNA or RNA pairs forming 3
hydrogen bonds.
COMPONENTS OF NUCLEOTIDES

1. Nitrogenous base
 adenine (A), guanine (G) – purines (2 carbon-
nitrogen rings) cytosine (C), thymine (T), uracil
(U) – pyramidines (single carbon-nitrogen rings) The sugar and phosphate of the nucleotides form the
DNA contains A, T, G and C. RNA contains A, U, G backbone of the structure, whereas the nitrogenous
and C. bases are stacked inside.

RNA
 It is mostly involved in
protein synthesis.
 The DNA molecules
never leave the nucleus
2. Pentose (five-carbon) sugar but instead use an
 deoxyribose in DNA, ribose in RNA intermediary to
communicate with the
rest of the cell which is
the messenger RNA
(mRNA).
 Other types of RNA like ribosomal RNA (rRNA),
transfer RNA (tRNA) and microRNA are
3. Phosphate group involved in protein synthesis and its regulation.
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

 Contain the nitrogenous bases adenine, cytosine,
guanine and uracil.
 RNA exists as a single-stranded molecule.

PROTEINS
 Amino acids are the monomers that make up
proteins.
 Each amino acid has the same fundamental
structure, which consist of:
1. central carbon atom, also known as the alpha (a)
carbon. DNA REPLICATION MODELS
2. amino group (NH2) 1. Conservative model – the parental DNA remains
3. carboxyl group (COOH) together, and the newly formed daughter strands
4. hydrogen atom are together.
5. R group 2. Semi-conservative model – suggests that each of
the two parental DNA strands act as a template for
new DNA to be synthesized; after replication, each
double-strand DNA includes one parental or “old”
strand and one “new” strand.
3. Dispersive model – both copies of DNA have
double-stranded segments of parental DNA and
newly synthesized DNA interspersed.

Each amino acid is attached to another amino acid by

a covalent bond, known as a peptide bond, which is Meselson and
formed by a dehydration reaction. Stahl studio on E.
coli supported the
semi-conservative
model of DNA
replication.

ENZYMES/ PROTEINS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

▪ DNA polymerase - replicates the DNA molecule to
build a new strand of DNA.
▪ Helicase – opens the DNA helix by breaking
hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases.
▪ Ligase – which sticks the DNA fragments together
or seals the gaps between the Okazaki fragments
to create one continuous DNA strand.
▪ Exonucleases - are enzymes that catalyze the
removal of nucleotides.
▪ Primase – primase makes the primer so that the
DNA polymerase can start their function)
▪ Topoisomerase – helps relieve the stress on DNA
when unwinding by causing breaks and then
resealing the DNA
▪ Single-strand binding proteins (SSB) – binds to
single-stranded DNA to avoid DNA rewinding back

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DNA REPLICATION 9. The new strand is proofread to make sure there
1. The first step in DNA replication is to ‘unzip’ the are no mistakes in the new DNA sequence.
double helix structure of the DNA molecule. 10. Finally, an enzyme called DNA ligase seals up the
2. This is carried out by an enzyme called helicase sequence of DNA into two continuous double
which breaks the hydrogen bonds holding the strands. The result of DNA replication is two DNA
complementary bases of DNA together (A with T, molecules consisting of one new and one old chain
C with G). of nucleotides. This is why DNA replication is
3. The separation of the two single strands of DNA described as semi-conservative, half of the chain is
creates a ‘Y’ shape called a replication fork. The part of the original DNA molecule, half is brand
two separated strands will act as templates for new.
making the new strands of DNA.
i. One of the strands is oriented in the 3’ to 5’ Following replication the new DNA automatically
direction (towards the replication fork), this winds up into a double helix.
is the leading strand. The other strand is
oriented in the 5’ to 3’ direction (away from
the replication fork), this is the lagging
strand. As a result of their different
orientations, the two strands are replicated
differently; continuous and discontinuous.
4. Topoisomerase binds at the region ahead of the
replication fork to prevent supercoiling.

5. A short piece of RNA called a primer (produced by

an enzyme called primase) comes along and binds
to the end of the leading strand. The primer acts as
the starting point for DNA synthesis.
6. DNA polymerase binds to the leading strand and
then ‘walks’ along it, adding new complementary
nucleotide bases (A, C, G and T) to the strand of
DNA in the 5’ to 3’ direction. This sort of
replication is called continuous.
7. Numerous RNA primers are made by the primase
enzyme and bind at various points along the
lagging strand. Chunks of DNA, called Okazaki
fragments, are then added to the lagging strand
also in the 5’ to 3’ direction. This type of
replication is called discontinuous as the Okazaki
fragments will need to be joined up later.
8. Once all of the bases are matched up (A with T, C
with G), an enzyme called exonuclease strips away
the primer(s). The gaps where the primer(s) are
then filled by yet more complementary
nucleotides.
PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
 In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, the second
function of DNA (the first was replication) is to
provide the information needed to construct the
proteins necessary so that the cell can perform all
of its functions.
 The DNA is “read” or transcribed into an Mrna
molecule which provides the code to form a
protein by a process called translation.
 Through the process of transcription and
translation, a protein is built with a specific
sequence of amino acids that was originally
encoded in the DNA.

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PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
TRANSCRIPTION
 process where mRNA is synthesized based on the
DNA template.
RNA POLYMERASE
 is the main enzyme involved in transcription. It
uses single-strand DNA to synthesize a
complementary RNA strand.
 The DNA-dependent RNA polymerase binds to the
promoter and catalyzes the polymerization in the
5’ to 3’ direction on the template strand. Once it
reaches the terminator sequence, the process
terminates, and the newly synthesized RNA strand
is released.
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STAGES OF TRANSCRIPTION
Transcription proceeds in enzymatically catalysed
steps i.e.
• Initiation
• Elongation
• Termination
INITIATION
 RNA polymerase attaches to the DNA molecule
and moves along the DNA strand until it
recognizes a promoter sequence. These are known
as the transcription start sites.
 The DNA double helix then unwinds and all the
bases on each of the DNA strands are exposed. This
acts as a template for a new mRNA strand.
Template strands are sites of DNA transcribed by
the messenger RNA.
ELONGATION
 Ribonucleotides are added to the template strand
that enables the growth of mRNA.
TERMINATION
 RNA polymerase encounters a terminator
sequence and the transcription stops. RNA
polymerase then releases the DNA template.
TRANSLATION
 The process of translating the sequence of a
messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule to a sequence of
amino acids during protein synthesis.
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tRNA CHARGING CODON CHART
 The process of attaching an amino acid to its - helps us to identify which codons specify which
respective transfer RNA (tRNA) is known as amino amino acids.
acid, also known as aminoacylation of tRNA
charging.

INITIATION
 In the I initiation step, the charged tRNA attaches
to the start codon (AUG), the small subunit of
ribosome binds to the mRNA, and finally, the large
ribosomal subunit binds to create the initiation
complex.

ELONGATION
 According to the codons found in the mRNA, the
polypeptide chain keeps growing. Each amino acid
has a peptide bond attaching it to the growing
chain. Elongation continues till the whole gene is
translated.

TERMINATION
 When the ribosome reaches a stop codon, such as
UAA, UAG, or UGA, translation is finished since
these codons lack tRNAs. When this happens, the
translation stops, and the newly produced
polypeptide chain is released.

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TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION SAMPLE

A-T/U
C-G
DNA: ACC TA CCCC GATAAA AC TCGG
mRNA: UGGAUGGGGCUAUUUUGAGCC
Protein: start gly leu phe stop

DNA: TC CGAT TACGC CGTT AT TAAT

mRNA: AGGCUAAUGCGGCAAUAAUUA
Protein: start arg gln stop

DNA: CGGATA AT ATACGCC AG CAT CACC

mRNA: GCCUAUUAUAUGCGGUCGUAGUGG
Protein: start arg ser stop

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