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STRUCTURE OF DNA
The three dimensional structure of DNA was deduced by James Watson and Francis
Crick in the year 1953 based on X-ray crystallographic studies by Rosalind Franklin.
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Components of DNA:
1. Nitrogenous bases.
2. Sugar.
3. Phosphate.
DNA consists of four nitrogenous bases: Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine.
Adenine and guanine are purines.
Cytosine and thymine are pyrimidines.
Sugar in DNA is deoxyribose.
CHARGAFF'S RULE:
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STRUCTURE OF GENE
Gene is a segment of DNA that codes for a particular protein.
There are two types of gene in the human genome:
1. Non-coding genes - will be transcribed but not translated (RNA genes).
2. Coding genes - will be transcribed and translated (Protein coding).
The coding region begins with the initiation codon, which is normally ATG.
It ends with one of three termination codons: TAA, TAG or TGA.
A gene will have two types of elements:
Upstream elements:
Will not be transcribed.
Possess regulatory elements like promoter and operator along with the distal
elements like enhancers and silencers.
Downstream elements:
Will be transcribed.
Possess both introns (intervening sequencing) and exons (coding sequence).
Introns:
The introns are the sections that are found in the mature transcript (messenger
RNA), while they are removed from the primary transcript by a process called
splicing.
START CODON: ATG - Codes for Methionine
STOP CODON: UAA, UAG, UGA
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GENETIC CODE
The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic
material is translated into proteins.
Codon - a trinucleotide sequence.
Salient features:
Genetic code is universal.
It has non-overlapping sequences.
Genetic code is degenerate.
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