DNA and RNAm Marking

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DNA and RNAm Marking

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Emam Hasan

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Lecture: DNA and RNA

Ref book: Biology for Engineers - Arthur T. Johnson [2nd edition]

Biology for Engineers – G. K. Suraishkumar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_-6JXLYS-k

Prepared by Nipa Roy

Institute of Natural Sciences
United International University
Web ref provided on slides
Images: From google image
Further
reading:https://www.genome.gov/genetics
-glossary/Base-Pair
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nurs
ing-and-health-professions/pentose
Introduction: DNA and RNA
• Genetics mainly deals with
the study of genes, heredity,
and genetic variation. Genes
exist on chromosomes and
chromosomes are comprised
of DNA and proteins. DNA is a
molecule that carries genetic
information in all living
organisms and viruses where
it is used in reproduction,
functioning, growth, and
development. It is a long
polymer of
deoxyribonucleotides.
• Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are
the two types of nucleic acids
found in living systems. DNA
acts as the genetic material in
most of the organisms. RNA
though it also acts as a
genetic material in some
viruses, mostly functions as a
messenger.

Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: DNA and RNA
Introduction: DNA and RNA

• A nucleotide has three components – a nitrogenous base, a

pentose sugar (ribose in case of RNA, and deoxyribose for
DNA), and a phosphate group. There are two types of
nitrogenous bases – Purines (Adenine and Guanine), and
Pyrimidines (Cytosine, Uracil and Thymine). Cytosine is
common for both DNA and RNA and Thymine is present in
DNA. Uracil is present in RNA at the place of Thymine.
• A nucleotide combines a nucleobase, a pentosesugar
(ribose or deoxyribose), and at least one phosphate group.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: DNA
DNA
• DNA is a double-
helical structure
that carries all the
genetic information.
Its length is
determined by the
number of
nucleotide pairs
present in it. It is an
acidic substance in
the nucleus
identified by
Friedrich Meischer.
Its double helical
structure was given
by Watson and
Crick.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: DNA

Ref: google image

Introduction: DNA
Structure
• DNA is made up of 6 molecular
structures that comprise of one
phosphate molecule and five carbon
sugar termed deoxyribose. A
nucleotide is a basic building block of
DNA. A nucleotide is comprised of
one of the 4 bases, one sugar
molecule, and one phosphate
molecule. A sugar-phosphate chain
act as a backbone and bases are on
the inside. Nucleotide subunits are
linked together to form a DNA strand
thus providing polar stability.
• The three-dimensional structure of
DNA arises from chemical and
structural features of 2
polynucleotide chain. A purine base
pairs up with pyrimidine base. For
instance guanine pairs with cytosine.
So the two strands that are held
together by a hydrogen bond are
complementary to each other and
they run in the antiparallel direction.

Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: DNA

The salient features of the Double-helix structure of DNA are as follows:

• It is made of two polynucleotide chains, where the backbone is constituted by sugar-
phosphate, and the bases project inside.
• The two chains have anti-parallel polarity. It means, if one chain has the polarity 5’ to 3',
the other has 3’ to 5'.
• The bases in two strands are paired through hydrogen bond (H-bonds) forming base pairs
(bp). Adenine forms two hydrogen bonds with Thymine from opposite strand and vice-
versa. Similarly, Guanine is bonded with Cytosine with three H-bonds. As a result, always a
purine comes opposite to a pyrimidine. This generates approximately uniform distance
between the two strands of the helix.
• The two chains are coiled in a right-handed fashion. The pitch of the helix is 3.4 nm (a
nanometre is one billionth of a metre, that is 10-9 m) and there are roughly 10 bp in each
turn. Consequently, the distance between a bp in a helix is approximately 0.34 nm.
• The plane of one base pair stacks over the other in double helix. This, in addition to H-
bonds, confers stability of the helical structure.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: DNA
Central Dogma
• The central dogma was
proposed by Crick. The
central dogma states that
the DNA is converted into
RNA and the RNA is
converted into proteins.
In retroviruses, the flow
of information is
opposite, i.e., RNA to
DNA to mRNA to Protein. Taken the distance between two consecutive base
pairs as 0.34 nm (0.34×10–9 m), if the length of
DNA Packaging DNA double helix in a typical mammalian cell is
• The negatively charged calculated (simply by multiplying the total number
DNA is packaged by of bp with distance between two consecutive bp,
surrounding the that is, 6.6 × 109 bp × 0.34 × 10-9m/bp), it comes
positively charged histone out to be approximately 2.2 metres. A length that
octamer. A structure is far greater than the dimension of a typical
called nucleosome is nucleus (approximately 10–6 m). How is such a
formed. The DNA is
packed in chromatin of long polymer packaged in a cell?
eukaryotes.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: DNA
DNA Replication
• DNA is self-replicative.
It occurs in the S-phase
of the life cycle. It takes
only a few minutes in
prokaryotes but hours
in eukaryotes. DNA
undergoes semi-
conservative replication,
i.e., two strands of DNA
are formed. One strand
is the same as one of
the strands while the
other is complementary
to the parent strand.
The replication occurs in
5′-3′ direction.
Reading: DNA Replication

Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: RNA
Ribonucleic acid
or RNA is a vital
molecule with a
long chain of
nucleotides. It is
the first genetic
material. A
nucleotide chain
comprises a
phosphate, a
ribose sugar, and
nitrogenous base.
RNA acts as a
catalyst and as
genetic material.
There are two
types of RNA,
that is genetic
and non-genetic.

Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
DNA or RNA
A molecule that can act as a
genetic material must fulfill
the following criteria:
• It should be able to
generate its replica
(Replication).
• It should be stable
chemically and
structurally.
• It should provide the
scope for slow changes
(mutation) that are
required for evolution.
• It should be able to
express itself in the form
of 'Mendelian Characters’.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
DNA or RNA
• If one examines each requirement one by one, because of rule
of base pairing and complementarity, both the nucleic acids
(DNA and RNA) have the ability to direct their duplications. The
other molecules in the living system, such as proteins fail to
fulfill first criteria itself.
• DNA chemically is less reactive and structurally more stable
when compared to RNA. Therefore, among the two nucleic
acids, the DNA is a better genetic material. In fact, the
presence of thymine at the place of uracil also confers
additional stability to DNA.
• Both DNA and RNA are able to mutate. In fact, RNA being
unstable, mutate at a faster rate.
• RNA can directly code for the synthesis of proteins, hence can
easily express the characters. DNA, however, is dependent on
RNA for synthesis of proteins.
• DNA being more stable is preferred for storage of genetic
information. For the transmission of genetic information, RNA
is better. Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: Genetic Code
Genetic Code: DNA
• The genetic code can be
defined as a set of rules
wherein the information
encoded in genetic
materials are translated
into proteins by living cells.
The code defines how
codons specify which amino
acids will be added next
during protein synthesis.
• The frequency of codon is
termed as codon usage
bias. It varies from species
to species in terms of
functional implications for
the control of translation.
• The genetic code can also
be defined as a relationship
between the sequence of
amino acids in a nucleotide
chain of mRNA or DNA and
amino acid in a polypeptide
chain.

Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Genetic Code
Nearly twenty types of
amino acids participate in
protein synthesis. Sixty-
one codons out of sixty-
four codons code only for
amino acids. The
characteristics of the
genetic code are stated
below:
• Degeneracy of genetic
code.
• Non-overlapping.
• Universality.
• Triplet in nature.
• Comma-less.
• Non-ambiguous.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Introduction: Human Genome Project
• The human genome
project was launched to
sequence the entire
human genome of 2.75
billion base pairs. The main
goals of the human
genome project are:
• To provide a complete
sequence of 3 billion base
pairs that make up the
human genome.
• To sequence the genome
of other organisms that are
used in medical research;
e.g., mouse, flies, etc.
• To develop new tools to
obtain and analyze the
data and to make this data
widely available.
• It holds prospects for
healthier living, a database
of knowledge about
designer drugs, genetically
modified diets, and genetic
identity.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Human Genome Project
Some of the important goals of HGP were as
follows:
(i) Identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000
genes in human DNA;
(ii) Determine the sequences of the 3billion
chemical base-pairs that make up human DNA;
(iiii) Store this information in databases;
(iv) Improve tools for data analysis;
(v) Transfer related technologies to other sectors,
such as industries;
(vi) Address the ethical, legal, and social issues
(ELSI) that may arise from the project.
Ref: https://byjus.com/biology/molecular-basis-of-inheritance/
Genome size due to transposable elements
There are many enormous differences in size in genomes, specially mentioned before in
the multicellular eukaryotic genomes. The main reason why there is such a big variety of
sizes is due to the presence of transposable elements. TEs are known to contribute to a
significant change in a cell's mass of DNA. This process is correlated to their long-term
accommodation in the host genome, and therefore, to the expansion of the genome
size.
Organism Genome size Approx. no. of
Organism Note
type (base pairs) genes

Smallest viruses
Porcine circovirus replicating
Virus 1,759 1.8 kB
type 1 autonomously
in eukaryoticcells.

Bacteriophage First sequenced

Virus 3,569 3.5 kB
MS2 RNA-genome

Virus SV40 5,224 5.2 kB

Ref: Wikipedia
Genome size due to transposable elements
Often used
as a vector
for the
Virus Phage λ 48,502 48.5 kB
cloning of
recombinan
t DNA.

Until 2013
the largest
Virus Megavirus 1,259,197 1.3 MB
known viral
genome.
Largest
Pandoraviru
Virus 2,470,000 2.47 MB known viral
s salinus
genome.
Eukaryotico Human mit
16,569 16.6 kB
rganelle ochondrion
Smallest
known non-
Nasuia
viral
deltocephali
Bacterium 112,091 112 kB 137 genome.
nicola(strain
Symbiont
NAS-ALF)
of leafhopp
ers
An endosy
Carsonella
Bacterium 159,662 160 kB mbiont of p
ruddii
syllidinsects