DNA Structure and
Function
Chapter 13
Hunt for Fame, Fortune and
DNA
• Researchers first believed that proteins held the key for
heritable information, because they were so diverse.
• Frederick Griffith wanted to develop a vaccine against the
bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae
• The colonies of one strain had a rough surface appearance,
and the other colony seemed to be smooth. Griffin gave
them the name of R and S.
• The steps of Griffin experiment.
– First he injected mice with live R cells. The mice did not
develop pneumonia. The R strain was harmless.
– Second he injected other mice with lice S cells. The mice
died. The S strain was pathogenic, it caused the disease.
– Third he killed S cells by exposing them to high
temperature. The mice injected with dead S cells did not
die.
– Fourth he mixed live R cells with heat-killed S cells and
injected it into the mice. The mice died. Their blood
showed live S cells.
– Heat had killed the S cells but did not destroy their
hereditary material.
Cont.
• Oswald Avery was intrigued by Griffith’s
discovery.
• He transformed harmless bacteria by mixing
them with extracts of killed pathogenic cells.
• He found that adding protein-digesting enzymes
to the extracts had to effect, cell were still
transformed.
• He then added a DNA-digesting enzyme to
extracts which prevented transformation.
• After Avery experiments many other scientist
started using bacteriophages in their
experiments.
• Bacteriophages- only infect bacteria.
– Consist only of DNA and a coat of protein.
Cont.
• Linus Pauling deducted the structure
of protein (collagen).
• In 1953 Watson and Crick built a
model of DNA. They discovered the
structure of DNA.
Discovery of DNA
• Nucleotide- is found in DNA and it consist of a five-
carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen-
containing base.
• The nitrogen-containing bases are adenine (A),
guanine (G), thymine (T), and cytosine (C).
• T and C are pyrimidines with a backbone of carbon
and nitrogen that forms a single ring.
• A and C are purines which are larger molecules having
two rings.
• The amount of adenine to thymine is the same and
the amount of guanine to cytosine is the same.
• The nucleotides in DNA are joined to one another by
way of condensation reactions that form long chains.
• Scientist Rosalind Franklin made x-ray diffraction
images of DNA.
Cont.
• Pauling who discovered proteins made a big
mistake by making all of the negatively charged
phosphate groups pointing inward facing each
other. They should have been facing outward so
that they do not repel each other.
• Watson and Crick came to the conclusion that
DNA must consist of two strands held together
by hydrogen bonds.
• The bonds form when the two strands are
running in opposite directions of each other and
twist to form a double helix.
• Only two kinds of base paring form along the
molecules length A-T and G-C.
• All DNA molecules show the same bonding
pattern.
• The constancy in DNA’s bonding pattern is the
DNA Replication and Repair
• Semiconservative Replication
– Enzymes easily break the hydrogen bonds
between 2 nucleotide strands of DNA.
– When the enzymes and proteins act on the
DNA strand it unwinds and exposes the
nucleotide bases.
– Each of the parent strands stays intact and
a companion strand is assembled according
to paring rule of A-T and G-C.
– As soon as the strand is done being coded
the old strand and the new strand bind
together and form a double helix.
– Each parent cell is conserved during
Cont.
• Replication Enzyme
– Molecules that are over the cell cycle activate replication
enzymes
– Helicases unzip the hydrogen bonds which are
individually weak and easy to break.
– The 2 parent cells are prevented from winding back
together because small proteins temporarily bind with
them.
– DNA polymerase catalyze the formation of two brand-
new strands of DNA from free nucleotides.
– They can only assemble in the 5’ to 3’ direction.
– For the parent cells that runs in the opposite direction
the nucleotides are assembled in short stretches on the
parent strand and DNA ligases seal the stretches
together in a continuous strand.
– This complementary strand winds up with the old strand.
– A free nucleotide has a tail of three phosphate groups
dangling from the 5’ carbon end.
Cont.
• AN individual may not survive if something
changes in its DNA.
• The wrong nucleotide may be base-paired with
the parent template and unless this is fixed it
can weaken the functions of the genes or
protein products.
• DNA proofreading mechanisms- fix most errors
in replication and most of the strands breaks.
– When they can not replication is arrested and
control over the cell cycle come into play.
– Mismatches that slip past the proofreaders are only
one type of DNA damage.
– Repair enzymes- can repair some changes; they
recognize and snip out damaged site or
