➢ genome—approximately 3.

2 * (10 to the power minus 9)

➢ a diploid human cell with 6.4 ¥ 109 nucleotide
➢
➢ nucleotides
➢ Nucleotides have three characteristic components: (1) a nitrogenous
(nitrogen-containing) base, (2) a pentose, and (3) a phosphate
➢ Nucleoside the phosphate group is absent
➢ Sugar in RNA (D-ribose), in DNA (2'- deoxy-D-ribose) the difference is that in
deoxyribose the OH group is replaced with H
➢ nitrogenous bases are made of two parent compounds, pyrimidine and purine

➢
➢ DNA ATGC, RNA AUGC
➢ The nucleotides of DNA and RNA are covalently linked through phosphate-group
bridges in which 5'-phosphate group of one nucleotide is joined to the 3'-hydroxyl
group of the next nucleotide this creates a phosphodiester linkage
➢ backbones of nucleic acids consist of alternating phosphate and pentose residue and
the nitrogenous base is joined to the backbone at regular interval
➢ The backbone is hydrophilic, e hydroxyl groups of the sugar residues form hydrogen
bonds with water
➢ the negative charges are generally neutralized by ionic interactions with positive charges
on proteins, metal ions, and polyamine
➢ polymers containing 50 or fewer nucleotides are generally called oligonucleotides A
longer nucleic acid is called a polynucleotide
➢ All nucleotide bases absorb UV light, and nucleic acids are characterized by a strong
absorption at 260 nm
➢

➢
➢ The stacking also involves a combination of van der Waals and dipole-dipole interactions
between the base
➢ Base stacking provides strength to the DNA, Minimize contact with water
➢ Each turn of DNA is made up of 10.4 nucleotide pairs
➢ Coiling of two strands creates Major & Minor groove The 5’ end of the DNA polymer
carries phosphate group & e 3’ -end is shown with a hydroxyl
➢ each strand of a DNA sequence of nucleotides that is exactly complementary to the
nucleotide sequence of its partner strand
➢ complete set of information in an organism’s DNA is called its genome
➢ each strand can act as a template for the synthesis of new DNA strand
➢ The purine and pyrimidine bases are hydrophobic and relatively insoluble in water at the
near-neutral pH of the cell. At acidic or alkaline pH the bases become charged and their
solubility in water increase

➢
➢
➢ Frederick Griffith
➢ Many scientists contributed to the identification of DNA as the genetic material. In the
1920s, Frederick Griffith made an important discovery. He was studying two different
strains of a bacterium, called R (rough) strain and S (smooth) strain. He injected the two
strains into mice. The S strain killed (virulent) the mice, but the R strain did not
(non-virulent) (see Figure below). Griffith also injected mice with S-strain bacteria that
had been killed by heat. As expected, the killed bacteria did not harm the mice. However,
when the dead S-strain bacteria were mixed with live R-strain bacteria and injected, the
mice died
➢ Griffith’s Experimental Results. Griffith showed that a substance could be transferred to
harmless bacteria and make them deadly.
➢ Based on his observations, Griffith deduced that something in the killed S strain was
transferred to the previously harmless R strain, making the R strain deadly. He called
this process transformation, as something was "transforming" the bacteria from one
strain into another strain
➢ Avery, Macleod, and McCarty
➢ In the early 1940s, a team of scientists led by Oswald Avery tried to answer the question
raised by Griffith’s results. They inactivated various substances in the S-strain bacteria.
They then killed the S-strain bacteria and mixed the remains with live R-strain bacteria.
 (Keep in mind, the R-strain bacteria usually did not harm the mice.) When they
inactivated proteins, the R-strain was deadly to the injected mice. This ruled out proteins
as the genetic material. Why? Even without the S-strain proteins, the R strain was
changed, or transformed, into the deadly strain. However, when the researchers
inactivated DNA in the S strain, the R strain remained harmless. This led to the
conclusion that DNA is the substance that controls the characteristics of organisms. In
other words, DNA is the genetic material
➢ Hershey and Chase
➢ bacteria were infected with T2 phages that had been radioactively
labeled either in their DNA component (with phosphorus-32 [ P]) or in
their protein component (with sulfur-35 [ S])
➢ Most of the P label was present in the fraction containing infected
bacteria
➢ The experiment began with the culturing of viruses in two types of medium. One set of
viruses (A) was cultured in a medium of radioactive phosphorus whereas another set (B) was
cultured in a medium of radioactive sulfur. They observed that the first set of viruses (A)
consisted of radioactive DNA but not radioactive proteins. This is because DNA is a
phosphorus-based compound while protein is not. The latter set of viruses (B) consisted of
radioactive protein but not radioactive DNA. The host for infection was E.coli bacteria
➢ E.coli bacteria which were infected by radioactive DNA viruses (A) were radioactive but the
ones that were infected by radioactive protein viruses (B) were non-radioactive
➢ radioactive and non-radioactive bacteria infer that the viruses that had radioactive DNA
transferred their DNA to the bacteria but viruses that had radioactive protein didn’t get
transferred to the bacteria. Hence, DNA is the genetic material and not the protein
➢

➢ euchromatin. Heterochromatin
➢ euchromatin. Heterochromatin a highly condensed form heterochromatin

➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢ Eukaryotes

➢
➢

➢
➢ They are monocistronic i.e. one gene is under the control of one promoter
➢
➢ s. Base stacking helps to minimize contact of the bases with water, and base-stacking
interactions are very important in stabilizing the three dimensional structure