A2 REVISION

DNA
DNA is a macromolecule polymer made of subunits called nucleotides. The
nucleotides are arranged in two chains which are coiled into a spiral shape called a
double helix. DNA is the molecule from which the gene alleles on the chromosomes
are made.
As with all nucleotides, those in DNA have three parts. These are a pentose sugar
called deoxyribose, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base.
The sugar and the phosphate are exactly the same in every nucleotide, but the base
varies. There are four bases in DNA and each nucleotide contains one of them. The
bases are called Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine.
Each time the sugar joins to a phosphate, a molecule of water is eliminated in a
condensation reaction. This sugar-phosphate-sugar bond is called a
phosphodiester bond.
Complimentary base pairs are joined by weak hydrogen bonds. When this occurs
Adenine always pairs with Thymine (A-T) and Guanine with Cytosine (G-C).

Protein synthesis
To begin with, the DNA duplex unzips to expose the base sequence on the coding
strand. RNA nucleotides then move in and align themselves according to the rules of
base pairing (A-U and G-C) with U replacing T in the RNA molecule.
The RNA is assembled using the enzyme RNA polymerase. This process is called
transcription.
The DNA template strand is read from the 3' to the 5' end and the mRNA is made
from the 5' to the 3' end. During transcription only the coding parts of the DNA are
copied (the exons). Non coding parts or introns are ignored by due to the splicing
process.
The completed mRNA molecule detaches from the DNA template and exits the
nucleus via the nuclear pores, moving into the cytoplasm for translation to take
place.
The ribosome in the cytoplasm attaches to the mRNA by its small subunit. The larger
subunit of the ribosome can accommodate two codons of the mRNA. One is held in
the P (peptidyl) site and the other in the A (aminoacyl) site. Each codon triplet then
attracts a complementary triplet or anticodon.

Each anticodon forms part of one transfer RNA (tRNA) molecule. Each tRNA carries
one specific amino acid in the cytoplasm. The anticodon and codon bind together
temporarily by means of hydrogen bonds.
This causes two amino acids to be held next to one another long enough for the
formation of a peptide bond between them.
The first amino acid in any polypeptide is usually methionine. The codon for this is
AUG, which has come to be known as the start codon as a result. The formation of
the peptide bond is catalysed by the enzyme peptidyl transferase, which is an
integral part of the large ribosome subunit.
Once the peptide bond has formed, the first tRNA detaches and travels into the
cytoplasm to pick up another amino acid.The ribosome shifts along the mRNA by
exactly one codon, so that the second codon now occupies the P site and the third
the A site.This movement is a process called translocation.
A third tRNA now moves to the correct position and a second peptide bond forms.
This process is then repeated until the polypeptide is complete.
The ribosome moves along the mRNA from the 5' towards the 3' end. The
completion of this process of translation is signalled by nonsense or stop codons.
These do not correspond with any tRNA, but signal the ribosome to detach from the
mRNA.
Watson and Crick originally proposed the triplet theory on the grounds that this is the
minimum number which could give at least one unique combination for each amino
acid. There are in fact 64 possible codons, so each amino acid has more than one to
code for it. The genetic code is thus described as being degenerate.