A biochemical process by which DNA molecules produce exact duplicates of themselves.
200
What is the definition of nucleic acid?
a polymer in which the monomer units are nucleotides
200
What are the three units found in a nucleotide?
phosphate group, pentose sugar, nitrogen-containing heterocyclic base
200
What are the two differences between RNA and DNA?
RNA contains ribose and the base uracil. DNA contains deoxyribose and thymine.
200
Who were the two scientists that proposed the DNA double helix structure?
James Watson and Francis Crick
200
How many chromosomes per cell does a human have?
46
300
Where is RNA found in the cell?
nearly all parts of the cell
300
What categories are the nitrogen-containing heterocyclic bases broken into? And which bases belong in each category?
Pyrimidine (thymine, cytosine, uracil) and Purine (adenine and guanine).
300
What is the primary nucleic acid structure?
the order in which nucleotides are linked together in a nucleic acid.
300
What bases are complementary in DNA? In RNA?
DNA - A=T Adenine bonds to Thymine. C=G Cytosine bonds to Guanine.
RNA - A=U Adenine bonds to Uracil. C=G Cytosine bonds to Guanine
300
A chromosome has what percent DNA and what percent protein by mass?
15% DNA and 85% protein
400
What is the primary function of DNA?
To store and transfer genetic information
400
What two sugars are found in DNA and RNA?
deoxyribose and ribose
400
What subunits are located at the end of a 3' and a 5'?
3' has a free hydroxyl group and a 5' has a free phosphate group
400
How many hydrogen bonds are between each base pair?
Two between A and T. Three between C and G
400
What is a daughter molecule?
A replicated strand that contains one strand from the original parent one newly formed strand.
500
What is the primary function of RNA?
To synthesize proteins which carry out essential cellular functions
500
Under cellular pH conditions what charge does the hydrogen phosphate ion carry?
negative 2 charge
500
Explain what 3' 5' phosphodiester linkage means.
There's a phosphoester bond to the 5' carbon on one sugar and phosphoester bond to the 3' carbon of another sugar. The 5' end carries a free phosphate group attached and the 3' end has a free hydroxyl group attached.
500
Are DNA double helix strands identical or complementary?
complementary
500
What are the 3 enzymes involved in DNA replication and what do they do?
DNA Helicase- unwinds DNA double helix
DNA Polymerase- Verfifies correct base pairing and catalyzes formation of new phosphodiester linkages between nucleotides
DNA Ligase- when segments in the other strand grows in the opposite direction and are corrected within the latter chain