THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF INHERITANCE:

Replication, Transcription, and Translation

In This Chapter

The Structure and Function of DNA

DNA Replication Mechanisms
The Initiation and Completion of DNA Replication

Joel C. Magday, Jr. PSHS–CVC

DNA Structure and Function
DNA as the Genetic Substance

1868 • Friedrich Miescher isolated salmon sperm DNA

1928 • Frederick Griffith discovered transformation in S. pneumoniae
1944 • Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty
demonstrated that the “transforming principle” was DNA
1947 • Erwin Chargaff's first parity rule for duplex DNA
1952 • Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase provided final proof that
DNA is the “transforming principle”
1953 • James Watson and Francis Crick proposed the model of
the double helix of DNA
1958 • Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl demonstrated that DNA
replicates --------------------
1965 • Marshall Nirenburg, Philip Leder, et al., identified the genetic
code from which protein is made from information in DNA
 Discovery of DNA Structure and Function

1919: Phoebus Aaron Theodore Levene

Figure 1-2; Panel 2-6 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)
 Nucleotides

Panel 2-6 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 Sugar Groups

Panel 2-6 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 Discovery of DNA Structure and Function

1950: Erwin Holly Chargaff

•noted that the amount of adenine (A) is usually similar to the amount of thymine
(T), and the amount of guanine (G) usually approximates the amount of cytosine
(C)

Chargaff's rule: In DNA, the total abundance of purines is equal to the total
abundance of pyrimidines.

Figure 4-4 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 Nucleic Acid Bases

• 2’-deoxyadenosine 5’-triphosphate (dATP)

• 2’-deoxyguanosine 5’-triphosphate (dGTP)
• 2’-deoxycytidine 5’-triphosphate (dCTP)
• 2’-deoxythymidine 5’-triphosphate (dTTP)

Panel 2-6 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 Nucleotide Chain

The structure of a trinucleotide,

a DNA molecule comprising three individual
nucleotides.

Figure 2.5 Introduction to Genetics. A Molecular Approach (© Garland Science 2012)

 Phosphate-Sugar Backbone

Figure Color Atlas of Biochemistry (© Koolman 2005)

 Nucleotide Strands

Figure Color Atlas of Biochemistry (© Koolman 2005)

Nucleotide Sequence
Discovery of DNA Structure and Function

Maurice Wilkins Rosalind Franklin James Watson Francis Crick

X-ray diffraction patterns of A-DNA (left) and B-DNA (right)

 The Double Helix: Putting the Evidence Together

• Double-stranded helix

• Antiparallel strands

• Complementary base-pairing

Figure 4-3 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 The Double Helix: Putting the Evidence Together

Figure 4-5 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 Double-Stranded DNA

Figure Color Atlas of Biochemistry (© Koolman 2005)

Fun Fact…

• (length of 1 bp)(number of bp per cell)(number of cells in

the body)
= (0.34 × 10-9 m)(6 × 109)(1013)
= 2.0 × 1013 meters

• that is the equivalent of nearly 70 trips from the earth to the

sun and back
2.0 × 1013 meters = 133.691627 astronomical units
133.691627 / 2 = 66.8458135 round trips to the sun
 DNA Forms

Figure Color Atlas of Biochemistry (© Koolman 2005)

 DNA Forms

Table 2.1 Introduction to Genetics. A Molecular Approach (© Garland Science 2012)

Evaluation

• Indicate which numbered feature (1 to 5) in the schematic drawing

below of the DNA double helix corresponds to each of the following:
1

3
2
4
5

( ) Hydrogen-bonding
( ) Covalent linkage
( ) Phosphate group
( ) Nitrogen-containing base
( ) Deoxyribose sugar
THE CENTRAL DOGMA OF
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

DNA Replication
mRNA Transcription
tRNA Translation
DNA Replication
Proposed Models of DNA Replication
The Meselson and Stahl Experiment
 Complementary Base Pairing

Figure 2.14 Introduction to Genetics. A Molecular Approach (© Garland Science 2012)

 Characteristics of DNA Replication

• Semi-conservative replication

• Bidirectional replication

• Semi-continuous replication

• High fidelity

Figure 5-5 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

General Steps in DNA Replication

• Initiation

• Primer Synthesis

• Elongation
 A Replication Bubble

Figure 5-24 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015) Figure 5-23 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)
 A DNA Replication Fork

Figure 5-7 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 Arrangement of Replication Proteins

1. Helicase
2. Topoisomerase
3. SSBP
4. DNA Polymerase III
5. Primase
6. DNA Polymerase III
7. DNA Polymerase I
8. Ligase

Figure 5-18 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2015)

 A Summary of DNA Replication

Figure 16.17 Campbell Biology (© Pearson 2014)

 DNA Replication Proteins

Table 16.1 Campbell Biology (© Pearson 2014)

 A Current Model of the DNA Replication Complex

The Trombone Model

Figure 16.18 Campbell Biology (© Pearson 2014)

 Thanks For Listening . . .

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The presenter invokes the principle of “fair use”.