The transfer of genetic information to

new cells is accomplished through the use

of biomolecules called nucleic acids:
ribonucleic acid (RNA) found mainly in
the cytoplasm of living cells
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) found
mainly in the nucleus of living cells
DNA provides the needed information for
the synthesis of protein.

DNA and RNA are
polymersconsisting
of repeating
subunitscalled
nucleotides,
which aremade of
three
components:
a heterocyclic
nitrogenous base
a sugar
phosphate

A ring that contains elements
other than carbon is called a
heterocyclic ring.
The bases found in RNA and DNA
contain two types of
heterocyclic rings: pyrimidine
and purine


Purine ring


Pyrimidine ring


pyrimidine bases:
uracil(U),
thymine(T),
cytosine(C)

Nucleoside is a combination of base and a
sugar bonded together by N-- glycosidic
bond
C# 1 of the sugar is linked to:
N in position of 1 of pyrimidine
N in position of 9 of purine

NUCLEOSIDE




RIBONUCLEOSIDE DEOXYRIBONUCLEOSIDE
Ribonucleoside could be:
Purine ribonucleoside = purine + ribose
Pyrimidine ribonucleoside = pyrimidine +
ribose
Purine ribonucleoside
Adenosine = adenine + ribose
Guanosine = guanine a+ ribose
Pyrimidine ribonucleoside
Cytidine = cytosine + ribose
Uridine = uracil + ribose
Thymidine = thymine + ribose
Deoxyribonucleoside could be:
Purine deoxyribonucleoside = purine +
deoxyribose
Pyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside =
pyrimidine + deoxyribose
Purine deoxyribonucleoside
Deoxyadenosine = adenine + deoxyribose
Deoxyguanosine = guanine + deoxyribose
Pyrimidine Deoxyribonucleoside
Deoxycytidine
Deoxyuridine
Deoxycytidine

Nucleotides are formed from the
combination of nucleoside with phosphoric
acid


ADENOSINE-5- MONOPHOSPHATE


NUCLEIC ACID - consists of successive
nucleotide units joined together by
phosphodiester bond.

The nucleic acid backbone then is a
sequence of sugar-phosphate groups, which
differ only in the sequence of bases
attached to the sugars along the backbone


A key feature of all nucleic acids - they
have two distinctive ends: the 5' and 3'
ends.
For both DNA (shown above) and RNA,
the 5' end bears a phosphate, and the
3' end a hydroxyl group.


The bases hydrogen bond to each other in a
specific way: A hydrogen bonds to T, and G
hydrogen bonds to C, forming a set of
complementary base pairs:

The two strands of DNA are arranged
antiparallel to one another: viewed from left to
right the "top" strand is aligned 5' to 3', while the
"bottom" strand is aligned 3' to 5.
G-C base pairs have 3 hydrogen bonds,
whereas A-T base pairs have 2 hydrogen
bonds:

In the early 1950s,
Watson and Crick
determined the true
structure of DNA from
data and X-ray pictures.

In 1953, Watson and
Crick published a paper
that showed that not
only is the DNA
molecule double-
stranded, but the two
strands wrap around
each other forming a
coil, or helix. The true
structure of the DNA
molecule is a double
helix.

The ladder-like
structure folds in
on itself to form a
double helix, with
the bases on the
inside and the
sugar-phosphate
backbone on the
outside.

RNAs are usually
single stranded, but
many RNA
molecules have
secondary
structure in which
intramolecular
loops are formed
by complementary
base pairing.
Base pairing in RNA
follows exactly the
same principles as
with DNA
the base pairs that
form are A-U and G-
C.

DNA
RNA

Sugar -
deoxyribose

Bases - A, G, C T

Double stranded

Sugar - ribose

Bases - A, G, C, U

Single stranded
There are 3 classes of RNA
1.) messenger RNA , mRNA
2.) transfer RNA, tRNA
3.) ribosomal RNA, rRNA
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
functions as a carrier of
genetic information from
the DNA in the cell
nucleus to the site of
protein synthesis in the
cytoplasm.
mRNA has a short lifetime
(usually less than one
hour); it is synthesized as
it is needed, then rapidly
degraded to the
constituent nucleotides


Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) the
main component of ribosomes
that are the site of protein
synthesis.
rRNAaccounts for 80-85% of the
total RNA of the cell.
rRNAaccounts for 65% of a
ribosomes structure (the
remaining 35% is protein).

Transfer RNA (tRNA) delivers
individual amino acids to the site
of protein synthesis.
tRNA is specific to one type of amino
acid; cells contain at least one
specific type of tRNA for each of the
20 common amino acids.
tRNA is the smallest of the nucleic
acids, with 73-93 nucleotides per
chain.

tRNA- has 2 segments;
Amino acid
attachment
Anticodon loop-
three-base sequence
which allows tRNA to
bind to mRNA during
protein synthesis.
(It is complementary
to one of the codons
in mRNA.)


It reproduces itself
( REPLICATION)
It supplies the information
necessary for the synthesis of
protein in our body including
enzymes ( PROTEIN SYNTHESIS)

Replication is the process by which an
exact copy of DNA is produced
HEREDITY - transmission of genetic
information from parents to offsprings.
Transmission of hereditary information takes
place in the nucleus.
Chromosomes - structure inside the nucleus
which has something to do with heredity.,
The GENES are located in the chromosomes;
the genes are section of the DNA.
GENE is a a segment of deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) carrying the code for a specific
polypeptide.
Each gene is a section of DNA molecule that
contains specific sequence of 4 bases namely,
A, G, C, and T containing 1000- 2000
nucleotides.
The DNA double helix contains thousands of
bases. One strand of DNA may carry many
inheritable genes.
Genetic information is transmitted from one
cell to the next, when cell division occurs.
The two new cells carry all the information
that the original cell possessed.


Two strands of DNA
separate, and each
one serves as the
template for the
construction of its
own complement,
generating new DNA
strands that are
exact replicas of the
original molecule.
The two daughter
DNA molecules have
exactly the same
base sequences of
the parent DNA

Step 1: Unwinding of the
double helix.
The enzyme helicase
catalyzes the
separation and
unwinding of the
nucleic acid strands at
a specific point called a
replication fork.
The hydrogen bonds
between the base pairs
are broken, and the
bases are exposed.
An RNA primer attaches
to the DNA at the point
where replication
begins

Step 2: Synthesis of DNA
segments.

All the kinds of the free DNA
nucleotide molecules are
present in the vicinity.
These nucleotides
constantly move into the
area and try to fit
themselves into the new
chain.
While the bases of the newly
arrived nucleotides are
being hydrogenated to their
partners, the enzyme
polymerase join the
nucleotide backbone. At the
end of the process, there
are two double stranded
DNA molecule each exactly
the same as the original
one.


The central dogma of molecular biology
states that genetic information contained
in the DNA is transferred to RNA molecules
and then expressed in the structure of
synthesized proteins.
Genes are segments of DNA that contain
the information needed for the synthesis of
proteins.
Each protein in the body corresponds to a
DNA gene.

Protein synthesis is accomplished by
orderly interactions between mRNA
and the other ribonucleic acids
(transfer RNA [tRNA] and ribosomal
RNA [rRNA]), the ribosome, and more
than 100 enzymes.


There are two steps in the flow of genetic
information:
transcription the DNA containing the
stored information is in the nucleus of the
cell, and protein synthesis occurs in the
cytoplasm. The information stored in the
DNA must be carried out of the nucleus by
mRNA.
The RNA copy of the gene is called the mRNA
translationmRNA serves as a template on
which amino acids are assembled in the
sequence necessary to produce the correct
protein. The code carried by mRNA is
translated into an amino acid sequence by
tRNA.


The copying of information is
done with the help of the
enzyme RNA polymerase, which
catalyze the synthesis of mRNA

DNA double helix begins
to unwind at a point
near the gene that is to
be transcribed.
Ribonucleotide
assemble along the
unwound DNA strand in
a complimentary
sequence.
Ex. Opposite each C on
the DNA, there is G on
the growing mRNA and
other complimentary
bases follow the
patterns.
( A::U, G:::C).
On the DNA strand,
there is always a
sequence of bases that
the RNA polymerase
recognizes as an
initiation signal, saying
start here

At the end of the gene,
there is a termination
sequence that tells the
enzyme, stop the
synthesis.

The newly-synthesized
mRNA strand moves
away from the DNA,
which rewinds into the
double helix.


TRANSLATION - process by which genetic
information preserved in the DNA and
transcribed into the mRNA is converted to
the language of protein ( amino acid
sequence)
Language of DNA Language of Protein
Codon
GCU . . . . . . . . Ala
GUU . . . . . . . . Val

Each base triplet sequence that
represents a code word on mRNA molecules
is called a codon


1.) Ribosomes begins to read the mRNA
sequence from the 5` end to the 3` end.
To convert the mRNA into protein
language, tRNA is used to read the mRNA
sequence, 3 nucleotides at a time.
GENETIC CODE - dictionary of
translation
Correspondence between the codon and one
amino acid

There are 20 amino acids in protein, but
there are 64 possible combinations of 4 bases
into triplets or codons.


Most amino acids are represented by more
than one codon (a feature known as
degeneracy).
Three are stop3 signs; 61 all code for amino
acids
The start codon is AUG. Methionine is
the only amino acid specified by just
one codon, AUG.
The stop codons are UAA, UAG, and
UGA. They encode no amino acid. The
ribosome pauses and falls off the mRNA.


2.) The mRNA sequence is matched three
nucleotides at a time to a complementary
set of three nucleotides in the anticodon
region of the corresponding tRNA molecule.

3.) tRNA pick up the amino acid from the
cytoplasm, and carries it to the site of
protein synthesis.