SUDHIR MEMORIAL INSTITUE

DOLTALA, JESSORE ROAD, MADHYAMGRAM

AISSCE 2019-2020

BIOLOGY PROJECT ON
DNA WORLD
IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE PROJECT IN
BIOLOGY
BY ANURUP CHATTOPADHYAY

CLASS - XII ,SCIENCE

ROLL NO -

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Anurup Chattopadhyay of Class 12, of Sudhir
Memorial Institute has satisfactory completed the project on
Biology on “DNA World”, as per the syllabus of AISSCE . I have
examined the project and hereby accord my approval of it as a study
carried out and presented in the manner required for its acceptance.
This does not necessarily endorse or accept every statement made
or opinion expressed or conclusion drawn, but only signifies the
acceptance of the project for the purpose it is submitted for.

Internal Examiner External Examiner

 DECLARATION

I, the undersigned Anurup Chattopadhyay, student of class XII here by declare

that the project work presented in this report is my own work and has been
carried out under the supervision of our biology teacher.

This work has not been previously submitted to any other school for any
examination. This project is absolutely genuine and does not indulge in
plagiarism of any kind. This references taken in doing this project has been
declared at the end of this project.

Signature of the candidate

(Anurup Chattopadhyay)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Apart from my efforts, the success of this project depends largely
upon the encouragement and guidance of many other. I take this
opportunity to express my deep gratitude and sincere thanks to
all the people who have to show my greatest appreciation to all
my chemistry teachers for their guidance in the project.

Last but not the least I would like to thank my parents and my
friends and my friends for their immense support and help.

Signature of the candidate

(Anurup Chattopadhyay)
 INDEX
Serial Number TOPIC Page number

1. DNA WORLD INTRODUCTION 6

2. Introduction to DNA 7

3. Constituents of DNA 7-9

4. Molecular Structure 9-12

5. Forms of DNA 13

6. DNA as the Genetic Material 14-15

7. Conclusion 16

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 17
 DNA WORLD

An exclusive project report on DNA. This project report will help us to learn about:
1. Introduction to DNA
2. Constituents of DNA
3. Molecular Structure
4. Forms of DNA
5. DNA as the Genetic Material

1. Introduction to DNA:
The chromosomes are made up of two types of macromolecules — proteins and nucleic acids. The
nucleic acids are of two types, viz. deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). DNA and
RNA are chain-like macro-molecules that function in the storage and transfer of genetic information.

They are major components of all cells. DNA is found predominantly in the nucleus while RNA is
predominant in cytoplasm. DNA is the genetic material of most organisms including many viruses.
Some viruses,’ however, have RNA as their genetic material.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is found in the cells of living organisms except plant viruses. DNA is
double stranded but in some cases like bacteriophages (e.g., φ x 174) the DNA is single stranded and
remains coiled and enclosed in a protein coat. DNA may be circular in bacteria, spirally coiled and un-
branched threads in mitochondria and plastids of eukaryotic cells

2. Constituents of DNA:
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a long chain polymer (polynucleotide) composed of monomeric units, called
nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a nucleoside (a sugar and a base) and a phosphate group.

Chemical analysis of highly purified DNA have shown that it is made of four kinds of
monomeric building blocks each of which contains three types of molecules :
(i) Phosphoric acid

(ii) Sugar molecule, and

(iii) Organic bases.

(i) Phosphoric Acid:
The phosphoric acid (H3PO4) in the nucleic acid is called phosphate . Phosphoric acid has three
reactive hydroxyl (-OH) groups of which two are involved in forming sugar phosphate backbone of
DNA. The phosphate makes a nucleotide negatively charged.

(ii) Sugar Molecule:

DNA contains a five carbon sugar, hence it is a pentose sugar . Since one oxygen atom at the 2′ carbon
is missing, hence it gets its name 2′-deoxyribose. Four of the five carbon atoms plus a single oxygen
atom forms a five-membered ring. The fifth carbon atom is outside the ring and forms a part of a -
CH2 group.

(iii) Organic Bases:

Different types of heterocyclic nitrogen containing ring compounds are found in the structure of DNA.
They are called simply as bases because they can combine with H^ in acidic solution. They are also
referred to as nitrogenous bases due to presence of nitrogen.

The bases are of two types mainly — Pyrimidine and Purine.

(a) Pyrimidine:
Pyrimidine bases are made up of a six-membered pyrimidine ring which is similar to the benzene ring
except that it contains nitrogen in place of carbon at the positions 1 and 3. Pyrimidine bases are of 2
types — thymine and cytosine , commonly abbreviated as T and C respectively.

(b) Purine:
Purine is a derivative of pyrimidine. It consists of a pyrimidine ring and a five- membered imidazole
ring (having nitrogen at 7 and 9 positions) which are fused together at 5 and 4 positions. There are
two purine compounds namely – adenine (A) and guanine (G)

Rare or minor bases: In addition to the four common bases (A, T, G, C), certain other unusual
bases of purine and pyrimidine derivatives, called rare or minor bases, occur in small amounts in DNA
of some organisms.
Molar Ratio of Nitrogenous Bases in DNA (Chargaff Rules, 1955):
(i) The purine and pyrimidine components occur in equal amounts in a DNA molecule.

(ii) The amounts of adenine (A) is equivalent to the amount of thymine (T) and the amount of cytosine
is equivalent to that of guanine (G).

(iii) In DNA, A + G / T + C value is always one or nearly one.

(iv) The base ratio A +T/G + C may vary in the DNA of different groups of organisms but is constant
for particular species. Therefore, this ratio has been used to identify the DNA from a particular
species.

3. Molecular Structure of DNA (Watson and Crick’s Model):

In 1953 Watson and Crick postulated a three dimensional working model of DNA, i.e., double helix
structure of DNA based on the X-ray data of Wilkins and base-equivalence observed by Chargaff.

Nucleoside:
A base combined with a sugar molecule is called a nucleoside. When deoxyribose sugar binds with
base, it makes deoxyribonucleoside. Obviously, in DNA four different nucleosides are found.

These are:
(i) Deoxycytidine; (ii) Deoxythymidine; (iii) Deoxyadenosine; and (iv) Deoxyguanosine

Nucleotide:

A nucleotide is derived from a nucleoside by addition of a molecule of phosphoric acid. The phosphate
molecule is linked with sugar molecule at carbon number 5 or at carbon number 3
The nucleotides in DNA are of 4 types:
(i) Deoxycytidylic acid; (ii) Deoxythymidylic acid; (iii) Deoxyadenylic acid; (iv) Deoxyguanylic acid

Polynucleotide:
A number of deoxyribonucleotides are covalently linked one by one to form a polynucleotide chain,
i.e., deoxyribonucleotide monomer units are united through the formation of phosphodiester bonds (a
diester bond is one which involves two ester bonds).
Double Helix:
Watson and Crick suggested that in a DNA molecule, there are two such polynucleotide chains which
are coiled about one another in a spiral.

The two polynucleotide strands are held together in their helical configuration by hydrogen bonding
between bases in opposing strands, the resulting base pairs being stacked between the two chains
perpendicular to the axis of the molecule like the steps of a spiral stair case

The base-pairing is specific; adenine is always paired with thymine, and guanine is always paired with
cytosine. Thus, all base-pairs consist of one purine and one pyrimidine.

The specificity of base-pairing results from the hydrogen-bonding capacities of the bases in their
normal configurations. In their most common structural configurations, adenine and thymine form
two hydrogen bonds, guanine and cytosine form three hydrogen bonds.
The two strands of DNA double helix are thus said to be complementary (not identical). This property,
that is complementarity of the two strands, makes DNA uniquely suited to store and transmit genetic
information. The base-pairs in DNA are stacked 3.4 Å apart with 10 base-pairs per turn (360°) of the
double-helix.

The sugar- phosphate backbones of the two complementary strands are antiparallel, that is, they have
opposite chemical polarity.

As one moves unidirectionally along a DNA double helix, the phosphodiester bonds in one strand go
from a 3′ carbon of one nucleotide to a 5′ carbon of the adjacent nucleotide, whereas those in
complementary strand go from a 5′ carbon to a 3′ carbon. This opposite polarity of the
complementary strand is very important in considering the mechanism of replication of DNA.

The high degree of stability of DNA double helices results in part from the large number of hydrogen
bonds between the base-pairs and in part from the hydrophobic bonding between the stacked base-
pairs. The planar sides of them are relatively nonpolar and thus tend to be water insoluble
(hydrophobic).
This hydrophobic core of stacked base-pairs con- tributes considerable stability to DNA molecules
present in the aqueous protoplasm’s of living cells.

4. Forms of DNA:

The DNA molecules exhibit a considerable amount of conformational flexibility. It can exist in A, B, C,
D and Z forms . B form (B-DNA) is the structure proposed by Watson & Crick and is the native
conformation of DNA in solution.

It consists of a right-handed antiparallel double helix of sugar-phosphate backbone, with purine-

pyrimidine base-pairs roughly perpendicular to the axis of the helix. The tilt of base-pairs of the helix
is 6.3°. One turn of the helix consists of 10 base-pairs. The rise of the helix per base pair is 3.37 Å.

A form (A-DNA) has 11 base pairs. The base pairs are considerably tilted from the axis of the helix. The
axial rise is 2.56Å. The helix observed under conditions of dehydration and high concentrations of salt
is wider and shorter than B- helix, the distinction between the major and minor grooves are reduced.

C form (C-DNA) results by reduction of hydration of the B form below 66% with excess of salt still
present. The size of helix of C form DNA is greater than Å type of DNA but is smaller than B-DNA. It is
about 31 Å. There are 9.33 base pairs per turn. The axial rise of base pairs is 3.32 Å with a tilting of
about 7.8°.
D form (D-DNA) and E form (E-DNA) are found rarely as extreme variants. In case of D- form there
are 8 base pairs per turn of helix. An axial rise of base pairs is 3.03 Å with tilting of about 16.7°.

In case of E-form, there are 7.5 base pairs per turn of helix. Z form (Z-DNA) is an unique left-handed
(Fig. 4.8) double helical form with a zig-zag (Fig. 4.9) sugar-phosphate backbone in antiparallel
organization. This DNA has been called Z-DNA

5. DNA as the Genetic Material:

Transformation Experiment:
Transformation experiment was initially conducted by F. Griffith in 1928 (Fig. 4.21). The injected a
mixture of two strains of Pneumococcus (Diplococcus pneumoniae) into mice. One of these two
strains, S III was virulent and other strain R II was non-virulent (causing no infection).

Heat-killed virulent S III strain when injected, showed that infectivity after heat killing is lost. The
mice injected with a mixture of R II (living) and S III (heat killed) died and virulent Pneumococcus
could be isolated from these mice. This phenomenon was described as transformation.
O. T. Avery, C. M. Macleod and M. McCarthy repeated Griffith’s experiment in an in vitro system in
order to identify the transforming principle responsible for converting non-virulent into virulent type
and reported their results in 1944 (Fig. 4.22). Virulence in Pneumococcus depends on a
polysaccharide capsule which is present in virulent strain S III and is absent in non-virulent strain R
II.

The cells of non-capsulated type – Rll were treated with an extract of DNA from capsulated strain S
III. A few cells of S III type could be isolated from the mixture.

This phenomenon of transferring characters of one strain to another by using a DNA extract of the
former is called transformation. When the extract was treated with DNAse (an enzyme which destroys
DNA) this transforming ability was lost. Proteases (enzymes which destroy proteins) did not affect the
transforming ability. These experiments thus indicated that DNA and not the protein, is the genetic
material.
 CONCLUSION
The secondary structure of DNA is important in many events in cellular life.
Replication, transcription and regulation of expression of many genes depends
on local differences or changes in DNA structure. Recombination which leads
to rearrangement of genes takes advantage of the ability to form an unusual
structure called a Holliday’s structure. Also different kinds of mutations occur
as a result of specific DNA structure.

Many mechanisms such as activation and inhibition of expression numerous

genes, methylation and cleavages of DNA at the base have the ability of
proteins to recognise well defined regions of DNA and one of the ways is
recognition the local differences in secondary structure

Internal Examiner External Examiner

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.SEARCH ENGINE USED:-

www.google.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.labs.google.com

http://www.biologydiscussion.com

2. ABC BIOLOGY

3. NCERT Biology class 12