DNA

Structure
Notes
DNA stands for deoxyribose nucleic acid

• This chemical substance is present in the

nucleus of all cells in all living organisms

• DNA determines the kind of cell which is

formed, (muscle, blood, nerve etc) is
controlled by DNA

• DNA determines the kind of organism

which is produced (buttercup,giraffe,
herring, human etc) is controlled by DNA

• DNA is often called the blueprint of life

because it contains the instructions for
making proteins within the cell.
• DNA is a very
long polymer.
• The basic shape
is like a twisted
ladder or zipper.
• This is called a
double helix. The
DNA double helix
has two strands
twisted together.
 DNA Structure
phosphate
DNA is made up of nucleotides
Nucleotides Have Three Parts

1. Simple Sugar (5-carbon sugar) deoxyribose

2. Phosphate group
3. Nitrogen Base

Bases or
nucleotides
 Looking at the Structure of DNA
• In 1953 Watson and Crick solved the puzzle
(p. 292 Fig. 12-63)
• These two scientists viewed x-ray images of
DNA crystals that were created by Rosalind
Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.

• DNA Structure
• Resembles a ladder
• sides: sugar and phosphate
• rungs (steps): complementary pairs
of nitrogen bases
 N
•In DNA, there • Pyrimidines are N C
are four possible single ring bases. O C C
nitrogen bases. N C
• Pyrimidines
• Thymine (T) • Purines are double N
• Cytosine (C) ring bases. N C
C C N
• Purines N C
• Adenine (A) N C
• Guanine (G)
 Chargraff’s Rule:
• Adenine and Thymine always
join together
The bases attract each other because of •A T
hydrogen bonds.
Hydrogen bonds are weak but there are • Cytosine and Guanine always
millions and millions of them in a single
molecule of DNA.
join together
The bonds between are shown here with •C G
dotted lines
DNA • Deoxyribose nucleic acid
 type of nucleic acid
• What is the other type of nucleic
acid?
• RNA
• DNA function
• to hold genetic code
• Genetic code = genetic
instructions to make proteins
• DNA is found in nucleus of
eukaryotic cells
• Found in nucleoid region in
prokaryotes
The Short History of
DNA
From 1866-1953
 Searching for Genetic Material
• Gregor Mendel
(1866):
• discovered that inherited traits
are determined by discrete units,
or 'genes,’ - passed on from the
parents.

• Freidrich
Miescher(1868):
• discovered DNA
• Isolated something new from the
nuclei of eukaryotic cells
• Later called DNA!!!
Searching for Genetic Material
• Thomas Hunt Morgan (1910):
• Worked with fruit flies
• Specifically eye color of these flies!
• Discovered genes are located (linked) on
chromosomes (Like x-linked traits)
Staining of DNA reveals somatic cells have the same
amount1914-Robert
of DNA and Feulgen
half as much as gametes.Cells stained with
Feulgen stain. It is the
A German chemist, found a DNA and not the
proteins that are
staining technique that stains visible under the
microscope.
more or less strongly based in
the amount of DNA present
(called Feulgen stain).

He found that all cells in an

organism had the same amount
of DNA (46) except gametes,
which had half the normal
amount.
 Non-
virulent
Fredrick Griffith
(1928): vs.
• Studied effects of Virulent
virulent (harmful) Bacteria
bacteria vs.
nonvirulent bacteria
injected into mice
• Used transformation:
• Inserted foreign DNA and
changed protein/ trait
• Believed that the
transforming agent was
an inheritance ROUGH: SMOOTH:
molecule. harmless kill
NOT HARMFUL /
BENIGN BAD / HARMFUL
 Griffith's Transformation Experiment
• Used the
Pneumococcus
bacteria
• When heated
Smooth (harmful)
cells (DEAD) are
mixed with living
Rough (benign)
cells and injected
into mice, the
mouse dies.
• WHY?
Oswald Avery, Colin
MacLeod, & Maclyn
McCarty (1944):
• Reported that
“transforming agent” in
Griffith's experiment was
DNA.
• Also used the
Pneumococcus
bacteria and test
tubes (NOT mice)
When various isolated chemical components
of the S-strain Pneumococcus cells was mixed
the R-strain Pneumococcus cells, it was shown
that the DNA from the S-strain cells, that
caused trans-formation.
 Relative Proportions (%) of Bases in
Edwin Chargaff (1950) DNA
ORGANISM A T G C
Discovered a 1:1 ratio of adenine Human 30.9 29.4 19.9 19.8
to thymine and guanine to Chicken 28.8 29.2 20.5 21.5

cytosine in DNA samples from a Grasshopper 29.3 29.3 20.5 20.7

variety of organisms. Sea Urchin 32.8 32.1 17.7 17.3
Wheat 27.3 27.1 22.7 22.8
Yeast 31.3 32.9 18.7 17.1
E. coli 24.7 23.6 26.0 25.7

Chargaff’s Rules
A=T
C G
Maurice Wilkins (1952)
• Photographed DNA using x-ray
crystallography
• Worked with another scientists
named Rosalind Franklin
• Awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for
Physiology or Medicine with Watson
and Crick
Rosalind Franklin
Photo 51
(1952)
•Obtained sharp X-ray diffraction
photographs of DNA (Photo 51)
•Watson and Crick used her data revealed its
helical shape
•Watson and Crick went on to win
Nobel Prize (1962) for their DNA
model
 Linus Pauling’s TRIPLE helix
Linus Pauling
(1954)
• proposed a triple
helix structure for DNA

Pauling Triple Helix Model

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/dna/animations.html
How did PHOTO 51
reveal DNA’s helical
shape?
X-rays passing through a helix diffract at angles
perpendicular to helix making an "X" pattern,
which favors an equal diameter "helix".
She finally gets credit 
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine
and Science, located on Green Bay Road in
North Chicago, Illinois
Alfred Hershey & Martha Chase
(1952)

• Confirmed DNA was genetic material using

viruses that infect bacteria. These viruses
only stay on the outside of the cell when
infecting the cells. Also viruses are composed
of protein and DNA. It is known that the virus
injects its genetic material into the bacterium
which had to DNA or proteins.

• Used bacteriophages (viruses)

• HYPOTHESIZED DNA, not protein, is the

hereditary material
Searching for Genetic
Material
Hershey and Chase
Experiment Animation
http://highered.mcgraw-
hill.com/sites/0072437316/student_view0/chapter14/a
nimations.html
Experiment of Hershey and Chase

27
Discovering the structure of DNA
James Watson & Francis Crick (1953)

1. Determined that the sugar and phosphates were on the outside.

2. Determined that the nitrogenous bases were forming the rungs of
the ladder.
Based on the work Franklin’s x-ray
crystallography, Watson and Crick found the
bonding;
•two purines are too wide and would overlap.

•two pyrimidines are too far apart to form the

hydrogen bonds.

•a purine and a pyrimidine however, are just

right! 29
Chargaff’s Snub
Chargaff felt there had been an
injustice done when he did not receive
the Nobel Prize in 1962 along with
Watson, Crick and Wilkins. Wilkins’
contribution to the structure of DNA
was to show James Watson the work
of Rosalind Franklin without her
permission. Franklin did not share the
Nobel Prize as she passed away from
ovarian cancer in 1958 and
posthumous nominations are
forbidden.
30
Sides of the Ladder

31
Hydrogen Bonding and Nitrogenous Bases

32
Hydrogen Bonding and Nitrogenous Bases

33
Hydrogen Bonding and Nitrogenous Bases

34
Hydrogen Bonding and Nitrogenous Bases

35
Forming the Double Helix

36