Download Understanding DNA: The Molecule of Genetics and Heredity - Prof. Mary V. Lipscomb and more Study notes Biology in PDF only on Docsity! Chapter 9 DNA: The Molecule of Heredity Vocabulary adenine โ nitrogenous base found in both DNA and RNA bases โ one of the nitrogen-containing, single or double ringed structures that distinguish one nucleotide from another. In DNA, the bases are adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine chromosome โ a single DNA double helix together with proteins that help to organize DNA complementary base pairs โ in nucleic acid, bases that pair by H bonding. cytosine โ nitrogenous base found in both DNA and RNA DNA - DNA helicase โ enzyme that helps unwind the DNA double helix during DNA replication DNA ligase โ enzyme that joins the sugars and phosphates in DNA strand to create a continuous sugar-phosphate backbone DNA polymerase โ enzyme that bonds DNA nucleotides together into a continuous strand, using a preexisting DNA strand as a template DNA replication โ the copying of the double stranded DNA molecule, producing 2 identical DNA double helices double helix โ shape of the two-stranded DNA molecule free nucleotides โ nucleotide that have not been joined together to form DNA or RNA strand gene โ unit of heredity that encodes the information needed to specify the amino acid sequence of proteins and hence particular traits; a function segment of DNA at a particular place on a chromosome guanine โ nitrogenous base found in both DNA and RNA nucleotides โ subunit of which nucleic acids are composed; a phosphate group bonded to a sugar, which is in turn bonded to a nitrogen-containing base protein โ polymer of amino acids joined by peptide bonds replication bubble โ unwound portion of 2 parental DNA strands, separated by DNA helicase, in DNA replication semiconservative replication โ process of replication of DNA double helix; 2 DNA strands separate, and each is used as a template for synthesis of a complementary DNA strand strands โ single polymer of nucleotides; DNA is composed of 2 sugar phosphate backbone โ major feature of DNA structure, formed by attaching sugar of one nucleotide to phosphate from adjacent nucleotide in a DNA strand thymine โ nitrogenous base found only in DNA transformation โ method of acquiring new genes, where DNA from one bacterium becomes incorporated into the DNA of another, living, bacterium Things to Know: 1. Describe Frederick Griffithโs experiment. Why were the results important? Book figure 9-1. Griffith marked a turning point in our understanding of genetics because other researchers suspected that the substance that causes transformation might be the long-sought molecule of heredity. 2. What contribution did Avery, McCarty, and MacLeod make to our understanding that DNA is the molecule of heredity? They determined that DNA was the transforming molecule. They concluded that genes are made of DNA.
