• Finally we have the characteristics of
double stranded DNA
• STRONG bonds between the
deoxyribose sugars and phosphates
• WEAK bonds between the Hydrogen
and Oxygen or Nitrogen (weaker
between A and T than C and G)
• Twisting of the two antiparallel
strands to form a double helix
• Heat it up, which bonds break first?...
• DNA is a replicator because of the
base pairing reality
– Since only one of the bases can pair
with only one other of the other bases,
each strand is a negative of the other
– The process of pulling the strands apart
from each other and replacing each
single strand with its complement is
called REPLICATION
• DNA Polymerase
comes on the scene
• UNWINDS the DNA
UNWINDS
upstream
• UNZIPS the DNA
UNZIPS
• This site is known as
the replication bubble
• Complementary Bases begin adding
Complementary Bases
into both sides of the DNA
• A binds with T, C binds with G (no
other possibility because of the shape
of the bases!)
• The DNA Polymerase precedes the
paired bases and clips out any that are
already added ahead of it (on the 3’
end) with an exonuclease activity
exonuclease
• Finally you have 2
identical copies of
DNA
• The final job of the
Polymerase is to
Proofread the DNA
Proofread
(back on the 5’ end)
and to clip out any that
are incorrectly paired
• Unwinds DNA at the replication fork
• Unzips DNA (breaks apart Hydrogen Bonds)
• Cuts out nucleotides attaching upstream on the 3’ end
• Proofreads back on the 5’ end and cuts out improperly
paired bases
• Viral DNA injected into cells
• Cells change nucleases in cytoplasm that chomp up
nucleases
any RNA or DNA out there
• Nucleases can’t get through the nuclear envelope so
DNA is safe
• mRNA sent out into the cytoplasm must be protected
– Methyl cap is a block
– Poly A tail is a fuse
• mRNA is still chomped up into NTP’s and recycled,
but the Poly A tail gives it some time
• Eukaryotic DNA is composed mostly of “noncoding
DNA” (or “junk DNA”)
DNA”
– We’re still not entirely sure what it does
– Was probably inserted by different viruses over time
– The ultimate selfish gene just hitching a ride on a successful
group of genes…
• The introns are the sections of DNA not expressed, the
introns
exons are the sections that are expressed (exons are
exons
expressed, get it?)
• Spliceosome loops out the introns and snips them out
Spliceosome
• So now we’ve got some mRNA that codes for a protein