• 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