CENTRAL

DOGMA
• Replication
• Transcription
• Translation
The Central Dogma:
DNA Encodes RNA and RNA Encodes Protein

 first proposed in
1958 by Francis
Crick, discoverer
of the structure of
DNA

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DNA
• Molecular Structure
• Replication
Molecular
Structure of
DNA

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Primary structure of the molecule
• A nucleotide is made of a phosphate, a sugar, a nitrogenous base.
• In DNA, the nucleotide is a DEOXYRIBONUCLEOTIDE.

Note:  A nucleotide is one of the structural components, or building blocks, of DNA and RNA. 5
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DNA molecule
• made of two strands that “complement”
each other
• strands fit together and bind to each other
• strands are bonded together via their
nitrogenous base pairs using hydrogen
bonds
• looks much like a long, twisted ladder
• DNA ladder is composed of alternating
sugar and phosphate groups
• two sides of the ladder are not identical
• adenine always binds with thymine
• cytosine always binds with guanine 7
DNA
REPLICATION

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Why Replicate DNA?

 DNA, found within the nucleus,

must be replicated in order to
ensure that each new cell
receives the correct number
of chromosomes.

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DNA REPLICATION
• is the copying of DNA that occurs before cell division can take
place
• was deduced in 1958 by two scientists in California, Matthew
Meselson and Franklin Stahl
• duplicates the entire genome of the cell
• a number of different enzymes work together to make this
possible
• is said to be semiconservative

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THREE STAGES of DNA REPLICATION

INITIATION ELONGATIO
N
TERMINATI 11
Stage 1: INITIATION

•  two complementary strands

are separated
• enzymes, including helicase,
untwist and separate the two
strands of DNA

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Stage 2: ELONGATION
• DNA polymerase brings in the
correct bases to complement the
template strand
• is the making of a new double strand
• there are two strands built:
o leading strand - is replicated
continuously in the 3' to 5' direction
o lagging strand - is replicated
discontinuously in short sections
called ‘Okazaki fragments’
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Stage 3: TERMINATION
• During termination, the last primer
sequence must be removed from the
end of the lagging strand. This last
portion of the lagging strand is the
telomere section, containing a
repeating non-coding sequence of
bases. 
• Enzymes called nucleases
“proofread” the new double helix
structures and remove mispaired
bases. DNA polymerase then fills in
the gaps created by the excised bases.
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 April Hansson

Transcription
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