Download DNA

Chapter 16~
The Molecular Basis of
Inheritance
Scientific History
• The march to understanding that DNA is
the genetic material
– T.H. Morgan (1908)
– Frederick Griffith (1928)
– Avery, McCarty & MacLeod (1944)
– Erwin Chargaff (1947)
– Hershey & Chase (1952)
– Watson & Crick (1953)
– Meselson & Stahl (1958)
The “Transforming
1928
Principle”
• Frederick Griffith
– Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria
• was working to find cure for pneumonia
– harmless live bacteria (“rough”) mixed
with heat-killed pathogenic bacteria
(“smooth”) causes fatal disease in
mice
– a substance passed from dead
bacteria to live bacteria to change
their phenotype
• “Transforming Principle”
The “Transforming Principle”
mix heat-killed
live pathogenic
strain of bacteria
A.
mice die
live non-pathogenic heat-killed
strain of bacteria
pathogenic bacteria
B.
C.
mice live
mice live
pathogenic &
non-pathogenic
bacteria
D.
mice die
Transformation = change in phenotype
something in heat-killed bacteria could still transmit
disease-causing properties
DNA is the “Transforming
1944
Principle”
• Avery, McCarty & MacLeod
– purified both DNA & proteins separately from
Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria
• which will transform non-pathogenic bacteria?
– injected protein into bacteria
• no effect
– injected DNA into bacteria
• transformed harmless bacteria into
virulent bacteria
mice die
What’s the
conclusion?
1944 | ??!!
Avery, McCarty & MacLeod
• Conclusion
– first experimental evidence that DNA was the genetic
material
Oswald Avery
Maclyn McCarty
Colin MacLeod
1952 | 1969
Confirmation of DNA
• Hershey & Chase
– classic “blender” experiment
– worked with bacteriophage
• viruses that infect bacteria
– grew phage viruses in 2 media,
radioactively labeled with either
Why use
Sulfur
vs.
Phosphorus?
•
•
35S
in their proteins
32P in their DNA
– infected bacteria with
labeled phages
Hershey
Protein coat labeled
with 35S
Hershey
&
Chase
T2 bacteriophages
are labeled with
radioactive isotopes
S vs. P
bacteriophages infect
bacterial cells
bacterial cells are agitated
to remove viral protein coats
Which
radioactive
marker is found
inside the cell?
Which molecule
carries viral
genetic info?
DNA labeled with 32P
35S
radioactivity
found in the medium
32P
radioactivity found
in the bacterial cells
Blender experiment
• Radioactive phage & bacteria in blender
– 35S phage
• radioactive proteins stayed in supernatant
• therefore viral protein did NOT enter bacteria
– 32P phage
• radioactive DNA stayed in pellet
• therefore viral DNA did enter bacteria
– Confirmed DNA is “transforming factor”
Taaa-Daaa!
Hershey & Chase
Martha Chase
1952 | 1969
Alfred Hershey
Hershey
Chargaff
• DNA composition: “Chargaff’s rules”
– varies from species to species
– all 4 bases not in equal quantity
– bases present in characteristic ratio
• humans:
A = 30.9%
T = 29.4%
G = 19.9%
C = 19.8%
That’s interesting!
What do you notice?
Rules
A = T
C = G
1947
Structure of
1953
|
1962
DNA
• Watson & Crick
– developed double helix model of DNA
• other leading scientists working on question:
– Rosalind Franklin
– Maurice Wilkins
– Linus Pauling
Franklin
Wilkins
Pauling
1953 article in Nature
Watson and Crick
Watson
Crick
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)
Double helix structure of DNA
“It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated
immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic
material.”
Watson & Crick
Directionality of DNA
• You need to
number the
carbons!
nucleotide
PO4
N base
– it matters!
5 CH2
This will be
IMPORTANT!!
O
4
1
ribose
3
OH
2
5
The DNA backbone
• Putting the DNA
backbone together
– refer to the 3 and 5
ends of the DNA
• the last trailing carbon
Sounds trivial, but…
this will be
IMPORTANT!!
PO4
base
5 CH2
O
4
1
C
3
O
–O P O
O
5 CH2
2
base
O
4
1
2
3
OH
3
Anti-parallel strands
• Nucleotides in DNA
backbone are bonded from
phosphate to sugar between
3 & 5 carbons
5
3
3
5
– DNA molecule has “direction”
– complementary strand runs in
opposite direction
Bonding in DNA
hydrogen
5
bonds
3
covalent
phosphodiester
bonds
3
….strong or weak bonds?
How do the bonds fit the mechanism for copying DNA?
5
Base pairing in DNA
• Purines
– adenine (A)
– guanine (G)
• Pyrimidines
– thymine (T)
– cytosine (C)
• Pairing
–A:T
• 2 bonds
–C:G
• 3 bonds
But how is DNA copied?
• Replication of DNA
– base pairing suggests that
it will allow each side to
serve as a template for a
new strand
“It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated
immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic
material.”
— Watson & Crick
Copying DNA
• Replication of DNA
– base pairing allows
each strand to serve as
a template for a new
strand
– new strand is 1/2 parent
template &
1/2 new DNA
• semi-conservative
copy process
Semiconservative replication,
• when a double helix replicates each of the daughter molecules will
have one old strand and one newly made strand.
• Experiments in the late 1950s by Matthew Meselson and Franklin
Stahl supported the semiconservative model, proposed by Watson
and Crick, over the other two models. (Conservative & dispersive)
Let’s meet
the team…
DNA Replication
• Large team of enzymes coordinates replication
Replication: 1st step
• Unwind DNA
– helicase enzyme
• unwinds part of DNA helix
• stabilized by single-stranded binding proteins
helicase
single-stranded binding proteins
replication fork
Replication: 2nd step
 Build daughter DNA
strand
add new
complementary bases
 DNA polymerase III

DNA
Polymerase III
5
Replication
energy
• Adding bases
– can only add
nucleotides to
3 end of a growing
DNA strand
• need a “starter”
nucleotide to
bond to
– strand only grows
53
3
DNA
Polymerase III
energy
DNA
Polymerase III
energy
DNA
Polymerase III
energy
DNA
Polymerase III
3
5
Okazaki
Leading & Lagging strands
Limits of DNA polymerase III

can only build onto 3 end of an
existing DNA strand
5
3
5
3
5
3
5
5
5

Lagging strand
ligase
growing
3
replication fork
Leading strand

3
Lagging strand


3
Okazaki fragments
joined by ligase
 “spot welder” enzyme
5
3
DNA polymerase III
Leading strand

continuous synthesis
3
Replication fork / Replication
bubble
5
3
5
DNA polymerase III
leading strand
5
3
3
5
3
5
5
5
3
lagging strand
3
5
3
5
lagging strand
5
5
leading strand
growing
replication fork 5
3
growing
replication fork
leading strand
3
lagging strand
5 5
5
5
3
Starting DNA synthesis: RNA
primers
Limits of DNA polymerase III

can only build onto 3 end of an
existing DNA strand
5
3
3
5
5
3
5
3
5
growing
3
replication fork
DNA polymerase III
primase
RNA 5
RNA primer


built by primase
serves as starter sequence for DNA
polymerase III
3
Replacing RNA primers with DNA
DNA polymerase I

removes sections of RNA primer and
DNA polymerase I
replaces with DNA nucleotides
5
3
3
5
5
ligase
growing
3
replication fork
RNA
5
3
But DNA polymerase I still
can only build onto 3 end of
an existing DNA strand
Houston, we
have a problem!
Chromosome erosion
All DNA polymerases can
only add to 3 end of an
existing DNA strand
DNA polymerase I
5
3
3
5
5
growing
3
replication fork
DNA polymerase III
RNA
Loss of bases at 5 ends
in every replication


chromosomes get shorter with each replication
limit to number of cell divisions?
5
3
Telomeres
Repeating, non-coding sequences at the end
of chromosomes = protective cap

limit to ~50 cell divisions
5
3
3
5
5
growing
3
replication fork
telomerase
5
Telomerase



enzyme extends telomeres
can add DNA bases at 5 end
different level of activity in different cells
 high in stem cells & cancers -- Why?
TTAAGGG TTAAGGG 3
Replication fork
DNA
polymerase III
lagging strand
DNA
polymerase I
5’
3’
ligase
primase
Okazaki
fragments
5’
3’
5’
SSB
3’
helicase
DNA
polymerase III
5’
3’
leading strand
direction of replication
SSB = single-stranded binding proteins
DNA polymerases
• DNA polymerase III
– 1000 bases/second!
– main DNA builder
Roger Kornberg
2006
• DNA polymerase I
– 20 bases/second
– editing, repair & primer removal
DNA polymerase III
enzyme
Arthur Kornberg
1959
Editing & proofreading DNA
• 1000 bases/second =
lots of typos!
• DNA polymerase I
– proofreads & corrects typos
– repairs mismatched bases
– removes abnormal bases
• repairs damage
throughout life
– reduces error rate from
1 in 10,000 to
1 in 100 million bases
Fast & accurate!
• It takes E. coli <1 hour to copy
5 million base pairs in its single
chromosome
– divide to form 2 identical daughter cells
• Human cell copies its 6 billion bases &
divide into daughter cells in only few hours
– remarkably accurate
– only ~1 error per 100 million bases
– ~30 errors per cell cycle
What does it really look like?
1
2
3
4
Any Questions??
2007-2008