Name: Shannon Kelso

BIOL230W Exploration Homework Week 2

Access ID: smk5736

Part 1:
All living things, including cells, are organized. In class weve discussed some of the organelles
that help to organize a cell. This week we are focusing on the nucleus and its contents.
Use the DNA (Intro, Properties through Base Pairing), Chromatin (Intro) and Histone
(Intro, Classes and Conservation Across Species) pages in Wikipedia to define the following
terms in one statement or sentence. Heres a quick video from the DNA Learning Center that
will give you an idea of just much information is in the human genome and another clip on DNA
folding that you may find helpful.
Nucleotide a nucleic acid monomer that has a phosphate group, 5-carbon sugar, and
nitrogenous base.
DNA backbone chained nucleotides (the sugar & phosphate group) that are joined
together by covalent bonds.
Antiparallel the strands that run alongside each other, but in opposite directions.
Reactive chemical group at the 5 end of DNA phosphate group
Reactive chemical group at the 3 end of DNA hydroxyl group
The four DNA nucleobases adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), & thymine (T)
Complementary base pairing adenine & thymine pair (A-T), and guanine & cytosine pair
(G-C).
Melting temperature required temperature needed to break 50% of the hydrogen bonds.
Chromatin condensed DNA, RNA, & proteins
Metaphase chromosome a chromosome in the cell cycle (metaphase stage) that is at its
most condensed form
Histones group of proteins in chromatin
Nucleosome DNA wrapped around a histone core

Part 2:
Answering the following questions about DNA in two sentences or less.
1. What is a major difference between DNA and RNA?
RNA is single-stranded, has a nitrogenous base uracil, and its 5-carbon sugar is ribose.
DNA, however, is double-stranded, has the nitrogenous base thymine, and its 5-carbon
sugar is deoxyribose.
2. What are the two different categories of bases and how do they interact (bond) with each
other?
The 2 categories are purines (A & G) and pyrimidines (U, C & T). Purines pair with
pyrimidines, so A & T pair (A & U in RNA) and C & G pair.
3. How does hydrogen bonding differ between nucleobase pairs and how does this impact
stability of the DNA?
Adenine & thymine pair in 2 hydrogen bonds while cytosine and guanine pair in 3
hydrogen bonds. DNA with a large amount of guanine & cytosine bonds is more stable.
4. How does the melting temperature lead to DNA strand separation without breaking the
backbone? (Hint: Think of the different bonds found in a strand of DNA)
The 2 strands are held by Hydrogen bonds between the bases, so they can be broken &
then later rejoined quite easily. The DNA backbone doesnt break, however, because its
made up of covalent bonds that require more energy.
5. How does chromatin differ between interphase and mitosis? Why is this important?
In interphase, chromatin is loosely coiled to allow transcription to occur. In mitosis, the
chromatin is tightly coiled and condensed to facilitate segregation.
6. How does heterochromatin differ from euchromatin?
Euchromatin is the state of the genetic material in its looser form around the nucleus while
heterochromatin is the state of the genetic material in its fully condensed coils.
7. What protein families makeup the nucleosome? Do they all have the same function?
The histone families are H1/H5, H2A, H2B, H3, & H4. They have different functions
depending on whether theyre a core or linker histone.
8. Do prokaryotes have histones?
Bacteria do not have histones, but certain Archaea do have histones. The Archaea that have
histones are Thermoproteales & Euryarchaea.