DNA RNA

Definition • Bears the hereditary

information that’s passed on
from parents to children,
• Provides instructions for
how (and when) to make the
many proteins needed to
build and maintain
functioning cells, tissues, and
organisms.
• Blueprint of life
Location in the cell Nucleus Made in nucleus, works in cytoplasm
Structure Double helix Single strand
5-C Sugar

Sugar and Phospohate Phosphate Ribose

N-bases A, T, C, G A, U, C, G

Nucleotides - The building blocks of DNA and RNA molecules

- consists of phosphate, pentose sugar and a nitrogenous base.

Nitrogenous Bases

- There are 4 N-bases present in the DNA: Thymine (T), Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), & Guanine (G).
- There 4 N-bases present in the RNA: Uracil, Adenine, Cytosine, & Guanine.
DNA Makes DNA (Replication)
- The new copies of DNA are exactly like the original molecule.
- S-phase
- Characteristics transferred in one gen to another

Semi-conservative

- Separation of the two DNA strands. Each parental strand serves as template that determines the
order of nucleotides along a new complementary strand.
- The complementary nucleotides line up and are connected to form the sugar-phosphate backbones
of new strands.
- Each “daughter” DNA consists of one parent strand (dark blue) and one new strand (light blue).

Why does DNA replicate

- To produce a copy of the genetic material that will be transferred to new cells during mitosis or to new
gametes during meiosis.

Which nitrogen bases fit together to make base pairs

- Adenine and thymine fit together, and guanine and cytosine fit together.

When a DNA molecule unzips to form two strands, what is added to each strand? What is produced?

- Complementary bases attach to the exposed bases on the strands so that two complete molecules of DNA
are produced.

How is the gene in the DNA coded?

- It is usually coded by a particular sequence of base triplet called codons

Compare the two new strands of DNA. Are they the same or different?

- Each new strand formed is a complement of one of the original strands. The result is the formation of two
DNA molecules containing the original DNA strand and the complementary daughter strands. The two new
daughter strands are also complementary to each other.

How do the nucleotides pair

- The two chains of nucleotides in a DNA molecule are held together by hydrogen bonds between the bases.
In DNA, cytosine forms three hydrogen bonds with guanine, and thymine forms two hydrogen bonds with
adenine.

How do you compare a DNA molecule to a zipper

- The pairing of the bases produces a long, two-stranded molecule that is often compare to a zipper. If you
look at a zipper, the sides of the zipper represent the sugar and phosphate units, while the teeth of the
zipper represent the pairs of nitrogenous bases of the DNA.

How is information from the DNA passed on from one cell to another?

- Before a cell can divide by mitosis or meiosis, it must first make a copy of its chromosomes. The DNA in the
chromosomes are then copied in a process called DNA replication
Transcription Process
• The synthesis of RNA using information in the DNA.
• DNA strand provides a template for assembling a complementary sequence of RNA nucleotides.
• For a protein-coding gene, the resulting RNA molecule is a faithful transcript of the gene’s protein-building
instructions.
• This type of RNA molecule is called messenger RNA (mRNA) because it carries a genetic message from the DNA
to the protein-synthesizing machinery of the cell.

Steps of Transcription

Step 1. RNA polymerase enzyme binds and opens the DNA molecule (template) that will be
transcribed.
Step 2. As the DNA molecules opens, RNA polymerase slide along the DNA strand and links free RNA
nucleotides that pair with n-bases of the complementary DNA strand.
Step 3. When the process of base-pairing is completed, the RNA molecules breaks away as the DNA
strands rejoin. The mRNA leaves the nucleus and goes to the cytoplasm.
Role of DNA in Protein Synthesis

- DNA directs the production of proteins.

- DNA determines the formation of mRNA.
- The order of bases of mRNA is determined by DNA which determines the protein that will be synthesized.

In what strand of DNA, messenger RNA resembles more closely? Why? Give your reason.

- The mRNA strand more closely resembles the complementary strand with all the same nucleotides in the
same order except uracil, which replaces thymine in RNA.

Explain why the structure of DNA enables the molecule to be easily transcribed. Why is this important for genetic
information?

- the DNA molecule unzips to allow the formation of mRNA.

What is the role of mRNA? Why is m RNA important?

How does mRNA carry information from DNA?

- The role of mRNA is to carry protein information from the DNA in a cell's nucleus to the cell's cytoplasm

What is the importance of transcription process in protein synthesis?

- The goal of transcription is to make a RNA copy of a gene's DNA sequence. For a protein-coding gene, the RNA
copy, or transcript, carries the information needed to build a polypeptide (protein or protein subunit).
TRANSLATION PROCESS
- The newly transcribes mRNA molecule leaves the nucleus and travels to a ribosome to begin the process
of translation.
- mRNA binds or attaches to a ribosome
- tRNA anticodon (UAC) carrying the amino acid methionine pairs with the start codon (AUG) to form
initiation complex.
- AUG codon in the mRNA signals the start of protein synthesis.
- The ribosome slide to the next codon (2 nd codon)
- When the 1st and 2nd codon are in place, an enzyme joins the two amino acids using a peptide bond.
- The process continues.
- The sequence of the nucleotides in the mRNA molecule establishes which tRNA, and consequently which
amino acids, arrive at the ribosomes
- The process stops when the ribosome reaches the STOP codon (e.g. UAA, UGA, UAG)

What bases in mRNA can only join with the adenine base of RNA? Uracil base of tRNA?

- both tRNA and mRNA, Adenine pairs with uracil and vice-versa.

What is a codon? What does it represent?

- A codon is a set of three nitrogenous bases in mRNA which codes for a specific amino acid.

What is the role of tRNA in protein synthesis?

- Transfer RNA brings an amino acid in the cytoplasm to the ribosomes. Each tRNA attaches to only one type
of amino acid

How does a tRNA molecule carrying its amino acid recognize which codon to attach?

- In tRNA there is a sequence of three nucleotides that are complementary to the nucleotides in the mRNA
codon. These 3 nucleotides are called anticodon because they bond to the codon of the mRNA.

Why is it important that a stop codon be part of protein synthesis?

- When a stop codon is reached, translation ends and amino acid strand is released from the ribosome.

A construction worker brings hollow blocks to build a wall. What part of translation resembles the construction worker’s
job? What do the hollow blocks represent?

- Construction worker resembles the job of the tRNA and the hollow blocks represent the amino acids.
Protein Synthesis
• Step 1: transcription! the DNA sequence of a gene is "rewritten" in the form of RNA. In eukaryotes, the RNA is
processed (and often has a few bits snipped out of it) to make the final product, called a messenger RNA or
mRNA.

• Step 2: translation! In this stage, the mRNA is "decoded" to build a protein that contains a specific series of
amino acids.

• The process of protein synthesis translates the codons (nucleotide triplets) of the messenger RNA (mRNA) into
the 20-symbol code of amino acids that build the polypeptide chain of the proteins. 

• The DNA directs the production of proteins and determines the formation of mRNA.

• The order of bases of mRNA determines the protein synthesized. Each combination of three nitrogenous bases
on the mRNA molecule is a codon (a three letter word for a specific amino acid).

• These amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.

• Transcription and translation processes happen due to the active participation of the three types of RNAs.

• Proteins control the activities of the cell, as well as so the life of the entire organisms.

3 Types of Ribonucleic Acids (RNA)

Messenger (mRNA)

– molecules are long strands of RNA nucleotides that COPIES the genetic code from
DNA and direct ribosomes to make proteins.

– They travel from the nucleus to the ribosome.

Transfer (tRNA)

– Picks specific amino acid to the ribosomes and interpret the amino acid from the
mRNA

Ribosomal (rRNA)

– molecules make up part of the ribosomes of the cell in the cytoplasm. Where proteins are
being synthesized based on the transcribed codes of mRNA.

Genetic code is the language of life, translating DNA and RNA sequence into proteins.

Why is specific base pairing essential to the processes of transcription and translation?

- The complementarity of the base pairing is essential in transcription and translation. The final products
coded by the DNA are RNA and proteins.

How many codon/s codes for one amino acid?

- Each codon specifies a particular amino acid that is to be placed in the polypeptide chain. There are more
than one codon for each amino acid

What will happen if the first C in the sequence is changed to G in Leucine?

- Protein sequence is changed. This is an example of mutation.

Humans have tens of thousands of different proteins, each with specific structure and function.

Proteins are composed of polypeptides; polypeptides are composed of peptides; and peptides are composed of
amino acids.

Amino Acids: Amino acids are organic molecule possessing both carboxyl and amino groups.