DNA, RNA, and Protein

Synthesis (Ch.12 & 13)

 Strands Covered:
• SC.912.L.16.3 – Describe the basic process of DNA replication
and how it relates to the transmission and conservation of the
genetic information.
• SC.912.L.16.5 – Explain the basic processes of transcription
and translation, and how they result in the expression of genes
• SC.912.L.16.9 – Explain how and why the genetic code is
universal and is common to almost all organisms
• SC.912.L.16.4 – Explain how mutations in the DNA sequence
may or may not result in a phenotypic change. Explain how
mutations in gametes may result in phenotypic changes in
offspring
 The Genetic Code
• The program of the cell
• The way in which cells store information
that they pass on to the next generation
Universal Genetic Code
 All organisms use the same codon for
the same amino acid
 Common Ancestry
 The Role of DNA

• 1) Storing Information – instructions for

development stored in DNA
• 2) Copying Information – before a cell
divides it must make a complete copy of
every one of its genes
• 3) Transmitting Information – DNA
must be sorted and passed along from
one generation to the next
 Structure of DNA

• DNA = Deoxyribonucleic acid

• Formed from Nucleotides
• Nucleotides have 3 basic parts:
– A 5 carbon sugar (deoxyribose)
– A phosphate group
– A nitrogenous base
– Joined together by Covalent Bonds
Draw This ^, Please.
 Let’s take another look at DNA Structure…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy8dk5iS1f0
 DNA made up of 4 bases:

• Chargaff’s Rule:
-The strands are complementary and
form long chains
• Adenine --- Thymine [A-T]
• Cytosine --- Guanine [C-G]
 Let’s try some…
AAT TTA

CG GCGCCG

TCAGTCC AGTCAGG
 WATSON AND CRICK
• Won Nobel Prize in 1962 for work on
DNA along with Maurice Wilkins.

• Discovered the double helix,

explained how DNA could
copy itself
 Who was Rosalind?
• Watson and Crick’s work was also based
on efforts of Rosalind Franklin who had
died already
• The clues from Franklins X-ray pattern
enabled Watson and Crick to build a
model that explained the specific
structure and properties of DNA.
 DNA Replication
• Before a cell divides, it duplicates its
DNA in a copying process called
replication.
• Replication…
– occurs during late interphase of the cell
cycle
– Ensures that each resulting cell has the
same complete set of DNA
 DNA REPLICATION
• The double helix “unzips” when
Hydrogen bonds are broken between
base pairs and the strands separate
 The Role of Enzymes
• Enzymes break the hydrogen bonds
(helicase)
• DNA Polymerase – the principle enzyme
involved in DNA replication
– produces the sugar-phosphate bonds that
join nucleotides together
– Proofreads each new DNA strand
 DNA REPLICATION
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=4jtmOZaIvS0
 Prokaryote vs Eukaryote
Replication
• Prokaryotic cells - replication starts from
a single point and proceeds in two
directions until the entire chromosome
is copied
• Eukaryotic cells- replication may begin
at dozens or even hundreds of places on
the DNA molecule, proceeding in both
directions until each chromosome is
completely copied
 RNA
• RNA = Ribonucleic acid

• Acts as a messenger between DNA and

the ribosomes that carry out the
process by which proteins are made
from amino acids.
 RNA Structure
• Made of the same nucleotides as DNA
• Different sugars (ribose vs. deoxyribose)
• RNA is single stranded unlike DNA
• Adenine ---- Uracil [A-U]
• Cytosine ---- Guanine [C-G]
 Three types of RNA
• 1) Messenger RNA (mRNA) – carry genetic
information from DNA in the nucleus out to the
ribosomes in the cytoplasm
• 2) Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) – forms an important part
of the ribosome, responsible for protein synthesis.
• 3) Transfer RNA (tRNA) – carries amino acids to the
ribosome and matches them to the coded mRNA
message
 RNA Synthesis
• Transcription – the process by which a molecule of
DNA is copied into a complementary strand of RNA
(Transferring info from DNA to RNA)

• Requires an enzyme known as RNA polymerase

which separates the DNA strands and uses one as
a template to make a complementary RNA strand
 Protein Synthesis
• The information DNA transfers to messenger
RNA is in the form of a code ( A, C, G, U)

• Codon – A combination of three nucleotides

on the mRNA

• Each codon specifies a particular amino acid

that is to be placed in the polypeptide chain
 UAU?
Tyrosine

GAA?
Glutamate
 TRANSLATION
• The decoding of a messenger RNA
message into a polypeptide chain
(protein)

• Transfer RNA (tRNA) – carries amino

acids to the ribosomes where they are
then joined together to form
polypeptides
 tRNA

• The transfer RNA nucleotides are called

the anticodon which are complimentary
to the mRNA’s codon
Ex:
Codon = CCC
Anticodon = GGG
 Let’s Practice….
RNA
• ATC GGG  UAG CCC

• CAA TTG  GUU AAC

• CCC GGG AAA  GGG CCC UUU

• TAG GAT  AUC CUA

 Central Dogma of Biology
Dogma- A rule set by figure of authority that is
inconvertibly true.

DNA RNA Proteins

Protein Synthesis Video Clips
• http://www.goldiesroom.org/
video_archive.htm

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=NJxobgkPEAo
 What is DNA?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=zwibgNGe4aY