Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "Deoxyribonucleic Acid"— Presentation transcript:

1 Deoxyribonucleic Acid
DNA Structure & Replication

2 What is DNA? Long thin double strands composed of subunits called nucleotides The nucleotides are linked in a chain

3 Nucleotides Have 3 Parts
Phosphate group 5 carbon sugar (deoxyribose) Phosphates and sugar form the backbone of DNA Nitrogen base – 4 types Adenine Guanine Thymine Cytosine

4

5 Nitrogen Bases continued…
Adenine and guanine are purines – double rings of carbon and nitrogen Thymine and Cytosine are pyrimidines – single rings of carbon and nitrogen

6 Chargaff’s Rules Base pairing rules show the arrangement of nucleotides within a DNA molecule Adenine-thymine (A-T) and the reverse Cytosine-guanine (C-G) and the reverse Base pairs of DNA form a double helix and are complementary to each other Chargaff was the scientist who discovered that A and T along with C and G always occurred in the same proportions within DNA

7 Example ACTGCCGAAT TGACGGCTTA

8

9 The Double Helix Watson and Crick (1953) discovered the structure of DNA to be a double helix or “spiral staircase” of two strands of nucleotides twisting around a central axis. Names for DNA…double helix, twisted staircase

10 How DNA is copied…DNA Replication
Replication is the process of synthesizing a new strand of DNA When does this occur? …before cell division Prior to replication, double helix must be unwound This is done by an enzyme called helicase Helicase breaks up the hydrogen bonds that link the bases

11

12

13 How DNA is copied…DNA Replication
The point at which the DNA separates is called the replication fork (y shape) At the replication fork, new enzymes known as DNA polymerases move along each new strand adding nucleotides to exposed bases- forming two new double helices DNA polymerases “proofread” to prevent errors Typically, there are many replication forks along each linear DNA molecule

14 Semi-conservative Replication
Half of original DNA strand is “conserved” or used in the new strand.

15 Two enzymes to know: Helicase – breaks the hydrogen bonds between bases to unwind the DNA DNA polymerases – bring new nucleotides into place, proofreads new strands as they form


Download ppt "Deoxyribonucleic Acid"

Similar presentations


Ads by Google