DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis

Zoology

I. Discovery of DNAA. Objectives

i. Relate how Griffith’s bacterial experiments showed that a hereditary factor was involved in transformation

Ii. Summarize how Avery’s experiments led his group to conclude that DNA is responsible for transformation in bacteria

Iii. Describe how Hershey and Chase’s experiments led to the conclusion that DNA, not protein, is the hereditary molecule in viruses

b. Griffith’s Experimentsi. 1928, Fredrick Griffith studied

Streptococcus pneumonia, which could cause pneumonia

Ii., He was trying to develop a vaccine against the disease – causing or virulent, agent

Iii. There are two different strains of the disease, one which caused the disease, the S strain, and one which did not, the R strain

iv. His Experiment1. Inject mouse with live R cells

A. Result = mouse livedB. Conclusion = R cells do not kill the mouse

2. Inject mouse with S cellsA. Result = mouse diedB. Conclusion = S cells kill the mouse

3. Kill S cells with heat and inject the mouse with heat killed S cellsA. Result = mouse livedB. Conclusion = heat-killed S cells do not kill mouse

4. Kill S cells with heat and mix with R cells, Inject mouse with mixtureA. Result = mouse diedB. Conclusion = hereditary material from heat-killed

S cells transforms R cells. The transformed R cells kill the mouse.

v. Griffith’s experiments showed that hereditary material can pass from one bacterial cell to another.

Vi. The transfer of genetic material from one cell to another cell from one organism to another organism is called transformation.

c. Avery’s Experimenti. In 1940’s Oswald Avery set out to test

whether the transforming agent in Griffith’s experiment was protein, RNA, or DNA

Ii. Avery’s work showed that DNA is the hereditary material that transfers information between bacterial cells.

d. Hershey-Chase Experimenti. In 1952, Martha Chase and Alfred Avery

set out to test whether DNA or protein was the hereditary material viruses transfer when viruses enter a bacterium

Ii. Viruses that infect bacteria are called bacteriophages, or just phages

iii. Their Experiment1. Step 1 – Hershey and Chase used

radioactive isotopes to label the protein and DNA in the phage

2. Then they allowed protein labeled and DNA-labeled phage to separately infect E. coli bacteria

3. They removed the phage coats from the cells in a blender

4. They then used a centrifuge to separate the phage from the E. coli

5. They found that all of the viral DNA and little of the protein had entered E. coli cells

Hershey and Chase confirmed that DNA, and not protein, is the hereditary material

II. DNA structureA. Objectives

1. evaluate the contributions of Franklin and Wilkins in helping Watson and Crick discover DNA’s double helix structure

2. describe the three parts of a nucleotide3. summarize the role of covalent and

hydrogen bonds in the structure of DNA4. relate the role of the base-pairing rules to

the structure of DNA

b. DNA Double Helixi. In 1950’s Watson and Crick teamed up to

determine the structure of DNAIi. Proposed that DNA is made of two chains

that wrap around each other in shape of a double helix, a shape similar to a winding spiral staircase

Iii. Watson and Crick created a model of DNA by using Franklin and Wilkin’s DNA diffraction X-rays

Iv. Received the Nobel Prize in 1962 for their work

c. DNA Nucleotidesi. DNA is made of two nucleotide strands

that wrap round each other in the shape of a double helix

ii. A DNA nucleotide is made of a:1. 5-carbon deoxyribose sugar2. a phosphate group3. and one of four nitrogenous bases:

A. Adenine (A) – purineB. Guanine (G) – purineC. Cytosine ( C ) – pyrimidineD. Thymine (T) – pyrimidine

iii. Bonds hold DNA together1. DNA double helix is similar to a spiral

staircase2. alternating sugar and phosphate

molecules form the side “handrails” of the staircase

3. Nucleotides along each DNA strand are bonded by hydrogen bonds

4. complementary nitrogenous bases are bonded by hydrogen bonds

5. each full turn of the DNA helix has 10 nucleotide pairs

d. Complementary Basesi. In 1949, Chargaff observed the base

pairing rules of DNAIi. Hydrogen bonding between the

complementary base pairs1. G –C2. A-T3. Holds tthe two strands of a DNA molecule together

iii. Is important because,1. the hydrogen bonds between the base

pairs help the two strands of DNA molecule together

2. The complementary nature of DNA helps explain how DNA replicates before a cell divides – one strand of DNA serves as a template