MERRYLAND INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
GRADE 9
INHERITANCE NOTES [INHERITANCE - PROTEIN SYNTHESIS]

 INHERITANCE is the transmission of genetic information from generation to generation.

 GENETICS: branch of science dealing with how hereditary works and tries to forecast
what sort of offspring is likely to be produced when plants or animals reproduce sexually.
 Genetic informations from one generation to the next are carried through
gametes[sperm and ovum]
 During fertilization, gametes join to form the zygote that carries all the genetic informations
from both the parents.

CHROMOSOMES

 ‘chromo’ means coloured and ‘somes’ means bodies.

 A chromosome is a thread like structure of DNA carrying genetic
informations in the form of genes.
 Just before a cell divides, a number of threadlike structures called chromosomes
gradually become visible in the nucleus.
 A chromosome is a thread of DNA, made up of a string of genes.

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 A gene is a length of DNA that codes for a protein.
 A chromatid is one of the two identical halves of a chromosome.
 Centromere is the structure in a chromosome that holds together the two
chromatids.
 There are two chromatids, joined at one point called a centromere.
 Each chromatid is a string of DNA, carrying genes that codes for the person’s
character.
 The other chromatid carries the same genes in the same order.

• Humans have 46 chromosomes [23 pairs], half from mother and the other half from
father. Only the 23rd pair is dissimilar in males [Y chromosome is smaller, compared to
the X chromosome.] The number of chromosomes is characteristic of the species. For
example, in human cells there are 46 chromosomes, and in fruit fly cells there are only
eight. Chromosomes when unraveled, is an extremely long thread of DNA. DNA stands
for Deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is wound around a protein called histone. The DNA
histone complex is known as the nucleosome. At the time of cell division, the DNA and
proteins are tightly packed. This condensation results in the visible structure of
chromosomes. Other times they are uncoiled, so the cell can use the informations in
DNA.

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• KARYOTYPE: The number and visual appearance of the chromosomes in a cell
is the karyotype. This reveals change in chromosome numbers.

 Change in chromosomes leads to diseases. For example, an extra chromosome

in chromosome number 21 leads to a condition called DOWN SYNDROME. Down
syndrome is caused by trisomy 21 — the person has three copies of
chromosome 21, instead of the usual two copies, in all cells. This is caused by
abnormal cell division during the development of the sperm cell or the egg cell.

DNA [DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID]

• DNA is a biomolecule that belongs to the group of nucleic acids.

• DNA is made up of nucleotides.
• Ribose sugar, phosphate group and one nitrogenous base together makes one
nucleotide.

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 • There are 4 nitrogenous bases in DNA that belongs to 2 different groups called
PURINES and PYRIMIDINES.
 PURINES: Adenine [A], Guanine [G]
 PYRIMIDINES: Thymine [T],
Cytosine [C]

• Rule of base pairing:

 Adenine always bind with Thymine

[ A- T]
 Guanine always bind with
Cytosine [G - C]
• In RNA [ribonucleic acid], thymine
gets replaced by Uracil [U].
• Therefore, in RNA Adenine binds with Uracil [A - U]

PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

• DNA carries the informations to build proteins from amino acids.

• These informations are carried from DNA to the site of protein synthesis [Ribosomes] by a
kind of messenger
molecule.
• This molecule is
RNA and is given
the name
messenger RNA
[mRNA].
• mRNA carries a
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 copy of the base sequence in DNA from the nucleus to the ribosome, where protein
synthesis takes place.
• Amino acids together make proteins.
• There are 20 different amino acids, each coded by a triplet code in DNA.
• For example TAC in DNA is AUG in mRNA.
• AUG is a triplet code that codes for an amino acid named methionine.
• Finally, these amino acids together make a protein in the ribosome.
• Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
• There are 20 different amino acids and 64 possible
• combinations, or codons.
• Aminoacids join together using peptide bonds.

OUTLINE OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

There are 2 steps in the process of

protein synthesis:

STEP 1 TRANSCRIPTION

DNA unwinds inside the nucleus

with the help of an enzyme. A new
mRNA molecule is formed using
bases corresponding to one of the
unwinded DNA strand. This
process is called transcription.

STEP 2 TRANSLATION

The mRNA with the triplet codes

leaves the nucleus through the nuclear pores. The mRNA then passes through the ribosomes.
Ribosome assembles amino acids from the cell cytoplasm using transfer RNA [tRNA]. Amino acid
bonds each other using peptide bonds to make protein molecules. The specific order of amino acids
is determined by the sequence of bases in the mRNA.

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REPLICATION, TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION