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Bio 113 Lecture 6
Gene Expression and the Genetic Code
33
Biology
Undergraduate 1
01/23/2013

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Term
Who is Archibald Garrod?
Definition
he was the first to connect inherited human disorders with mendel's laws of inheritence
Term
what did Garrod study patients with?
Definition
patients with Alkaptonuria - rare disease of organic acid metabolism known for darkening of urine from yellow to brown-black after exposure to air
Term
what is alkaptonuria also known as?
Definition
black urine disease
Term
what did garrod observe on how alkaptonuria was inherited?
Definition
autosomal recessive - in mendel laws 3:1 ratio. 1/4 to get it
Term
what was Garrod's hypothesis?
Definition

Alkaptonuria patients lack the enzyme necessary for breaking down homogentisic acid due to a defect in a gene

we now know the missing enzyme is homogentisic acid oxidase

Term
what did Beadle and Tatum faff about in 1940?
Definition
the one gene one enzyme hypothesis
Term
beadle and tatum experiment with Neurospora and identified a series of auxotrophic mutants. what are they?
Definition
they are mutant strains that cannot synthesise a particular molecule required for growth (like arginine) therefore will only grown if they are supplied with that molecule
Term
how many classes of arginine auxotrophs did beadle and tatum identify?
Definition

3 classes

 

Term
in beadle and tatums discoveries what did class I auxotrophs require to grow?
Definition

MM + ornithine

MM + Citrulline

MM + Arginine

Term
in beadle and tatums discoveries what did class II auxotrophs require to grow?
Definition

MM + citrulline

MM + arginine

Term
in beadle and tatums discoveries what did class III auxotrophs require to grow?
Definition
MM + Arginine only
Term
what was the interpretation of beadle and tatums experiment?
Definition
the further down the metabolical pathway the block occurs, the FEWER the number of intermediate compounds that will permit the strain to grow
Term
what did beadle and tatums 'one gene - one enzyme' get modified to and why?
Definition
'one gene - one polypeptide' it was found not all gene products are enzymes, some are stuctural proteins like actin and ribosomal proteins
Term
if a gene codes for a protein, how is the info in the gene sequence get converted into a protein structure?
Definition
gene expression
Term
what does gene expression mean?
Definition
information transfer
Term
what provides the link betwen DNA and protein?
Definition
mRNA - a single stranded RNA molecule that is able to carry genetic information from DNA to protein
Term
there are 2 main stages to gene expression what are they?
Definition

Transcription

and

Translation

Term
what happens in the transcription part of gene expression?
Definition
mRNA is synthesised using one strand of DNA as a template strand. its complimentary strand is known as the coding strand because it has the same sequence as mRNA apart from uracil substitution
Term
which enzyme catalyses transcription?
Definition
RNA Polymerase II
Term
What is translation?
Definition
assembling amino acids into polypeptides using the genetic information encoded in the mRNA. the information has to be decoded
Term
a series of NON-OVERLAPPING three nucleotide words are known as?
Definition
codons
Term
most amino acids are encoded by more than one codon. what is this known as?
Definition
redundancy
Term
how many start codons are there?
Definition
one ! AUG
Term
how many stop codons are there?
Definition
three! UAG UGA UAA
Term
in which direction are the codons read by the translation machinery?
Definition
5' to 3' direction along the mRNA
Term
if codons (triplet of nucleotides) do not overlap and each codon specifies an amino acid how many amino acids to 900 nucleotides encode for?
Definition

300

900/3 = 300

Term

what do these mean?

 

replication

transcription

translation

Definition

replication - synthesis of DNA

transcription - synthesis of mRNA

translation - synthesis of protein using mRNA as template

Term
what are point mutations?
Definition
mutations that affect one or a few base pairs of DNA
Term
what are the 2 main classes of point mutations?
Definition

1. base pair substitutions

2. Frameshift mutations (caused by insertions and deletions)

Term
base pair substituions can be of 3 types depending on their effcet on translation what are they?
Definition

silent - no change

nonsense - premature termination of translation 

missense - amino acid substitution

Term
how are frameshift mutations caused?
Definition
by insertion or deletion of one or two base pairs in the DNA
Term

true or false

sometimes frameshift mutations cause an immediate stop codon?

Definition
true - this results in a truncated and probably non fucntional protein
Term
will the insertion/deletion of 3 or a multiple of 3 nucleotides cause a frameshift mutation?
Definition
no! will add or remove an amino acid and protein may still function
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