CHAPTER 10 –Understanding
the Genetic Material
• Key Understanding
DNA stores, replicates, and passes on genetic
information from generation to generation.
DNA as
Genetic
Material
Learning Competency
• explain how protein is made using
information from DNA.
• Botanist Gregor Mendel – presented the two
fundamental principles of heredity
before the Natural Society of Brünn in
1866.
• Geneticist Alfred Hershey and Martha
Chase –
continued to work to prove that DNA –
not proteins – was indeed the genetic
material.
• Bacteriophage – a virus that infects bacteria
The Composition of DNA
• Biochemist Phoebus Levene – identified the basic
structure of
nucleotides, the subunits of nucleic acids as
DNA.
• Nucleotides consist of: a sugar, phosphate, and a
nitrogenous
base.
• DNA nucleotides contains five-carbon sugar
(deoxyribose),
phosphate, and one of the four nitrogenous
bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C),
and thymine (T).
Erwin
Chargaff
The Structure of DNA
• Rosalind Franklin – an expert in x-ray crystallography,
used X-
ray diffraction to determine the shape of DNA.
• Photo 51 – showed that DNA is a double helical
structure,
twisted like a ladder formed by two strands of
nucleotides.
• James Watson and Francis Crick – determine the
components
of the double helix and published an article
regarding the structure of DNA and presented
the three-dimensional model of DNA.
- the DNA resembles a winding staircase.
- The two sugar-phosphate backbones
make up the sides and the base pairs
comprise the rungs or steps of the
winding staircase.
- The paired nucleotides (G-C or A-T) are
linked by hydrogen bonds.
- This linking is called complementary base
pairing.
• Gene – a segment of DNA that serves as
“operating code” for a trait.
• Geneticists know that DNA stores
information, replicates , and undergoes
mutation.
• DNA is found within the nucleus of cells.
• This genetic material holds the
information necessary to make and
control all cellular activities within an
How DNA Replicates
• DNA Replication – a process in which genetic
information is copied precisely.
• Watson-Crick model explains how this process
takes place.
• Two strands of the double helix complement each
other; the sequence of the bases from one strand
will determine the bases of the other.
• The Watson-Crick model for DNA replication is
known as semiconservative replication because
one of the old strands is conserved in each daughter
molecule.
DNA replication involves the following steps:
• Unwinding and unzipping
• Complementary base pairing
• Joining
• The process of unzipping the double helix to
separate the strands of DNA is the work of the
enzyme DNA helicase.
• The bonding or putting together, of the new
nucleotides is the work of the enzyme DNA
polymerase.
DNA and RNA
• Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) – a long chain made up of building
blocks
called nucleotides.
• Three Types of RNA and their functions:
- Messenger RNA, or mRNA – carries a copy of the
message
transcribed from the DNA out of the nucleus and
into the cytoplasm.
- Transfer RNA, or tRNA – transports individual amino
acids to the sites of protein synthesis, the
ribosomes.
- Ribosomal RNA, or rRNA – along with proteins, makes
up
Comparison between DNA and RNA
Parts/ DNA RNA
Components
Bases A, T, C, G A, U, C, G
Sugar deoxyribose ribose
Strand(s) double single
Helix helical Non-helical
From DNA to RNA
• DNA – the blueprint, or template, of the cell to make a similar
ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule.
• The following describes how DNA is copied to produce
RNA molecules.
- Transcription – refers to the process by which
genetic information in DNA is copied into an
RNA molecule.
- Transcription begins when the enzyme RNA
polymerase binds to a region of DNA called a
promoter.
- In eukaryotic cells, after transcription of a gene is
finished, mRNA exits the nucleus and enters the
From RNA to Proteins
• When mRNA has copied all the information to make
proteins, it will move into the cytoplasm. Then, mRNA
becomes associated with a ribosome.
• Translation – starts when mRNA in the cytoplasm
interacts with rRNA and tRNA.
• Codon – a sequence of three nucleotides (triplet) in
mRNA that codes for a specific amino acid.
• Anticodon – a sequence of three nucleotide bases that
complements a specific mRNA codon at one end; and a
specific amino acid.
• Polypeptide – a chain of amino acids that
make up a protein.
• This three process (transcription and
translation) is known as the central dogma
of molecular biology.
• Francis Crick and other geneticists described
the genetic code as unambiguous – each
codon is specific to an amino acid. For
example, UUA translates only for leucine and
GCC only for alanine.
• The code is also degenerate, or
redundant. This means that a single amino
How Mutation Influences Proteins
• During DNA replication, some errors could be
made.
• For example, polymerase enzyme can insert the
wrong nucleotide or too many nucleotides into a
sequence.
• Mutation – refers to a change in the molecular
structure
of a gene or the physical structure of a
chromosome.
• Mutation may arise through:
- action of mutagens, such as ultraviolet
radiation, ionizing radiation, and various
chemicals.
• Mutation in body cell (somatic cell) – only
affects the
organism carrying it.
• Mutation occurs in sex cell (germ cell) – can
be
transferred from the parent to the
offspring.
Gene Mutation
• Mutation involving only one or few nucleotide pairs that can
affect translation may be due to substitution, insertion, or
deletion.
1. Base Substitution or Point Mutation – occurs when a
nucleotide or base replaces another. Depending on how the
base substitution is translated, the protein may be slightly
altered or completely changed.
a. Missense mutation - Changes in a single
nucleotide can change the amino acid coded
for.
Some missense mutations have little or no effect on the
resulting protein, but in others, such as in sickle-cell
anemia, changes in the protein could lead to abnormal
• Sickle-cell anemia is a genetic disease of the RBC.
Normally, RBCs are disk-shaped. This shape allows RBCs
to travel with flexibility, even in the smallest blood
vessels.
b. Nonsense Mutation – Changes an amino acid into a
stop codon.
2. Base Insertion or Deletion – Insertion or deletion of one or
more nucleotides in a gene can have a more disastrous effect.
Adding or deleting nucleotides may alter the
reading frame or triplet grouping, and consequently, will
change the genetic message. This is called frameshift
mutation.
Examples of diseases caused by insertion or deletion are:
Cystic Fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, Huntington disease,
Phenylketonuria, and some cancers
Chromosomal Mutation
• Chromosomal Mutation – refers to a change in the
chromosome structure and chromosome number.
• Human cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes, mice
have 20 pairs, and tomato plants have 12 pairs.
• Monosomy – occurs when an individual has only
one chromosome of a given pair.
• Trisomy – happens when members of homologous
chromosomes during meiosis do not separate.
• Turner Syndrome (XO) – inherited a single X chromosome and no Y
chromosome.
- usually short, underdeveloped, sterile females. They do not
undergo puberty and their secondary sexual characteristics
do not develop.
• Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) – a condition in which a person has
an extra chromosome. It involves chromosome 21.
• Trisomy 13 – produces individuals with a cleft lip and/or palate,
and multiple brain, eye, and cardiovascular defects.
• Babies born with an extra chromosome 18 (trisomy 18) have
various organ malformations.
Trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome)
• Klinefelter Syndrome – have an extra X chromosome
(XXY).
- are underdeveloped, sterile males with some
breast development.
Polyploidy – occurs when a mutant organism has more
than two sets of chromosomes.
Triploids – individuals who have three entire sets of
chromosomes instead of two.
Tetraploids – have four sets.
• Briefly answer the following questions.
1. If a DNA segment has the nucleotides
CACGGTAAT, what would be the nucleotide
sequence of the complementary RNA strand?
2. How many codons are in an MRNA molecule
that is 150 bases long? How many amino
acids could be produced?
