DNA, RNA and Proteins

Chromosomal plasmid
DNA DNA

•
• (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
 Organism Number of chromosomes in a
diploid cell

Mus musculus (house mouse) 40

Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) 8
Caenorhabditis elegans (microscopic roundworm) 12

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) 32

Arabidopsis thaliana (plant in the mustard family) 10

Xenopus laevis (South African clawed frog) 36

Canis familiaris (domestic dog) 78

Gallus gallus (chicken) 78
Zea mays (corn or maize) 20
Myrmecia pilosula (an ant) 2
Cambarus clarkii (a crayfish) 200
Homo sapiens (human) 46
A form B form Z form
Deoxyribose nucleotide:
building block of DNA The four bases found in DNA
• Messenger RNA (mRNA):
– Carries the genetic information out of the nucleus
into cytoplasm for protein synthesis.

• Ribosomal RNA (rRNA):

– Makes up ribosome, constitutes 50% of a ribosome,
which is a molecular assembly involved in protein
synthesis.

• Transfer RNA (tRNA):

– Decodes the information in mRNA
• Production of two identical
copies (daughter DNA
molecules) of a double
stranded DNA molecule

• The basis for biological

inheritance
Each strand of the original double-stranded
DNA molecule serves as template for the
production of the complementary strand.

Semiconservative replication: Each daughter

DNA molecule ends up with one of the
original strands and one newly synthesized
strand.
• RNA synthesis from a DNA template.
 TRANSCRIPTION

Non template strand= sense strand

Template strand= anti-sense strand

-> strand that is being transcribed

Source: http://genome.crg.es/courses/Madrid04/exercises/ensembl/
Non template strand/coding strand= sense strand

Template strand= anti-sense strand -> strand that is being transcribed

All cellular RNA molecules are synthesized by RNA polymerases according to

instructions given by DNA templates.
The direction of RNA synthesis is 5′ → 3 ′, as in DNA synthesis.
The gene is transcribed to yield
the primary transcript, which is
modified by cap and poly(A)
addition.

The intervening sequences

(introns) in the primary RNA
transcript are removed to form
the mRNA.
• Protein synthesis

• mRNA produced by
transcription is decoded
by the ribosome to
produce a specific amino
acid chain (polypeptide)
that will later fold into
an active protein
Codon: three consecutive bases in a mRNA molecule that code for a
specific amino acid

Adenine

Guanine Arginine

Adenine
Anticodon: a sequence of three bases in
the tRNA that are complementary to a
codon in the messenger RNA
 Polypeptide
Met Arg
Phe
Leu Ser
Gly
Aminoacyl tRNA

P A
Ribosome E

CCA
5’GAG...CU-AUG--UUC--CUU--AGU--GGU--AGA--GCU--GUA--UGA-AT GCA...TAAAAAA 3’
mRNA
 Polypeptide
Met
Phe
Leu Ser
Gly Arg

Aminoacyl tRNA

P A
Ribosome E

CCA UCU
5’GAG...CU-AUG--UUC--CUU--AGU--GGU--AGA--GCU--GUA--UGA-AT GCA...TAAAAAA 3’
mRNA
 H O
AMINE ACID
Alanine Serine
H N C OH H H
O O
C
H N C OH H N C OH
ANYTHING R H
H C H C
Amino Acid C H C H
H H HO H

H2O H O H O

H N C N C OH

H C H C
C H C H
H H HO H
 Polypeptide
Met
Phe
Leu Ser
Gly
Arg

P A
Ribosome E

CCA UCU
5’GAG...CU-AUG--UUC--CUU--AGU--GGU--AGA--GCU--GUA--UGA-AT GCA...TAAAAAA 3’
mRNA
 Polypeptide
Met
Phe Ala
Leu Ser
Gly
Arg Aminoacyl tRNA

P A
Ribosome E
CCA
UCU
5’GAG...CU-AUG--UUC--CUU--AGU--GGU--AGA--GCU--GUA--UGA-AT GCA...TAAAAAA 3’
mRNA
 Polypeptide
Met
Phe
Leu Ser
Gly
Arg Ala

P A
Ribosome E

UCU CGA
5’GAG...CU-AUG--UUC--CUU--AGU--GGU--AGA--GCU--GUA--UGA-AT GCA...TAAAAAA 3’
mRNA
A genetic disorder is a disease that is caused
by an abnormality in an individual's DNA.

Abnormalities can range from a small

mutation in a single gene to the addition or
subtraction of an entire chromosome or set of
chromosomes.