THE CENTRAL DOGMA OF

BIOLOGY: Protein Synthesis

LESSON 1:
REPLICATION OF DNA
Presented by: Ms. Cristina Malicse
  Define DNA Replication.
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES:  Illustrate the different
steps and major key
players of DNA
Replication.
 Appreciate the
importance of DNA
Replication.
 DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)

 It is the genetic material of all organisms on Earth

from microbes to plants and human beings.
 Every cell in a human body nearly has similar DNA
and in eukaryotic cells (cells that contain a nucleus
and organelles. These are enclosed by a plasma
membrane).
 It is a thin long molecule found in the cell’s nucleus
which is made up of nucleotides.
 Genome

 An organism’s complete set of DNAs, including all of

its genes is called genome.
 It contains a complete set of information which
determines inherited physical characteristics such as
height, skin, eye and hair color and many others.
 Basic Structure of Nucleotide
 It consists of a phosphate group, sugar and a
nitrogenous base.
 The 4 different type of nucleotides of DNA

 adenine, thymine,
guanine and cytosine
which are represented by
their first letter A, T, G, C.
 These four nucleotides are
paired as (Adenine-
Thymine) and (Guanine-
Cytosine) into billions to
organize a double helix
structure.
 Chromosomes

 DNA molecules fold into paired packages called

chromosomes that are stored in the nucleus of the
cell.
 Different species have different numbers of
chromosomes, and humans have 23 pairs.
 It contains many genes and on each string of DNA
contains the gene which is the basic unit of heredity
and a segment that describes how a certain
protein is made.
Chromosomes
 History

 James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, worked out

that DNA is double helix which appears like a
staircase.
 The sides of the double helix structure are the sugar
phosphate backbones and the steps or rungs are the
base pairs.
 DNA Replication

 It is the process of DNA duplication from an existing

DNA.
 The replication of DNA is important for the growth
repair and reproduction of cells of an
organism.
 This process occurs in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells
before a cell divides either by mitosis or meiosis.
 When a cell divides, each resulting cell keeps a copy
of all of your chromosomes.
 DNA Replication

Three major key players:

1.Helicase unzips/unwinds the DNA molecule.
“unzipping enzyme”
2.DNA Polymerase initialize the process and
brings in new nucleotides or new strands of DNA.
“builder enzyme”
***(Primers made of RNA [ribonucleic acid] which acts as
a messenger carrying instructions from DNA for
controlling the sysnthesis of proteins.)
3.Ligase zips the new DNA back together. “gluer”
 Three major steps of DNA replication

Step 1: Initiation
DNA replication starts at the
Origin of Replication. The
unzipping enzyme Helicase,
causes the DNA strand
separation, which leads to the
formation of the replication fork.
It breaks the hydrogen bond
between the base pairs to separate
the strand, thus separating the
DNA into individual strands.
Three major steps of DNA replication:
INITIATION
 Three major steps of DNA replication

Step 2: Elongation
DNA Polymerase III makes the
new DNA strand by reading the
nucleotides on the template
strand and binding one
nucleotide after the other to
generate a whole new
complementary strand.
 Three major steps of DNA replication

Step 2: Elongation
It helps in the proofreading and
repairing the new strand.

DNA Polymerase is able to

identify and back track any mis
paired nucleotides and corrects
it immediately.
 Three major steps of DNA replication

Step 2: Elongation
The bases attached to each
strand then pair up with the
three nucleotides found
in the cytoplasm.
*If it finds an Adenine (A) on
the template, it will only add a
Thymine (T).
*If it finds a Guanine (G) on the
template, it will only add a
Cytosine (C).
Three major steps of DNA replication:
ELONGATION
 Three major steps of DNA replication

Step 3. Termination
As the strand is created, the primer has to be removed.
This is when DNA Polymerase I comes into the picture
to replace the RNA nucleotides from
the Primer with DNA nucleotides to make sure it is
DNA all the way through. When DNA
Polymerase III adds nucleotides to the lagging strand
and forms Okazaki fragments, it leaves
a gap or two between the fragments. These gaps are
filled by the enzyme ligase and makes
sure that everything else is connected.
Three major steps of DNA replication:
TERMINATION
DNA Replication Process
 Why is DNA Replication important?

 The important idea is that an exact duplication

of the DNA message is required, so that each
new cell in the body has the same set of
genetic instructions as the cells that
preceded it.

 This also ensures that every new

generation of individuals has the same
genetic information as his/her parents.