Molecular Genetics Review

DNA shape
Bacteria- circular loop
Eukaryote- linear packaging into chromosomes during metaphase

DNA replication
DNA Replication follows the semi-conservative model. Each original strand serves as a
template for a complementary strand.
Helicase unwinds the strand, creating replication forks at different origins of replication in the
DNA strand. Complementary nucleotides are added by DNA polymerase. It only works in the
3’->5’ direction.
The new DNA strand is built continuously on the leading strand. The strand away from the
replication fork, the lagging strand, must be built discontinuously from Okasaki fragments. The
fragments are then joined together by DNA ligase.

Central Dogma
DNA-> mRNA-> polypeptide-> trait
Transcription = DNA ->mRna (nucleus)
The promoter region is a sequence of DNA to which RNA polymerase attaches to start
transcription.
After transcription, the RNA strand undergoes RNA processing. Introns, noncoding parts, are
removed. A 5’ cap and poly A tail is added to opposite ends of the strands for recognition.
Methylation -> makes transcription difficult
Acetylation -> allows transcription
A repressor suppresses the transcription of a gene.
Translation= mRna -> polypeptide (cytoplasm)
GTP molecules provide energy for translation.
Ribosomes assemble a polypeptide chain by translating nucleotide triplets, codons, into
specific amino acids. The amino acids are carried to the ribosome by tRNA. When polypeptide
is finished, the chain is released by hydrolysis and the translation assembly falls apart.

Bacteria
 ● reproduce asexually through binary fission
● Exchange DNA through conjugation (bacterial “sex”)
● Contain plasmids, small sections of DNA apart from the chromosome that can be
exchanged with each other and the outside environment. Ex. R-plasmid, which offers
antibiotic resistance and F- plasmid, which allows the creation of a sex pilus for
conjugation.
● Contain operons, which regulate genes responsible for protein synthesis.
Ex. lac operon - controls the breakdown of lactose. Lactose is required to
induce (turn on) the operon - inducible enzyme
trp operon- controls the synthesis of trp. Tryptophan is required to
repress (turn off) the operon. - repressible enzyme
● E. coli is the bacteria scientist know the best and use to conduct experiments on
bacterial genetics
● can absorb new DNA from their surroundings through the process of transduction.

Viruses
Bacteriophages (phages) infect bacteria.
They can go through either the lytic cycle, where the cell bursts and dies, or the lysogenic
cycle. In the lysogenic cycle, where viral DNA is integrated into bacterial DNA and becomes a
propahge. A virus can escape from lysogenic cycle into lytic when conditions are right. A virus
that uses the lytic cycle exclusively is a virulent phage, and one that can switch between both
cycles is a temperate phage.
Phages can carry bacterial genes from one host cell to another through transduction.
Genetic Material of Viruses
Can be : double stranded DNA (dsDNA), single stranded DNA (ssDNA), Double stranded RNA
(ds RNA) and single stranded RNA (ssRNA)
* RNA viruses can be equipped with an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which
transcribes RNA into DNA. Ex. HIV
Other Pathogens
Viroids- circular RNA molecules, only a few hundred nucleotides long, that infect plants
Prions- infectious proteins, which cause degenerative brain diseases in various animal species.