Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Dna is wellsuited to perform this biological function because of its molecular structure. The structure and function of dna molecular biology of the cell. Dna structure and function travers 2015 the febs journal. All of these features were described by watson and crick. Here we explain what it is, what it does, its double helix structure, and why it is so important to life. The shapes and chemical structure of the bases allow hydrogen bonds to form efficiently only between a and. Dna gibberish, in the form of junk dna and introns, didnt need to be. Mathematics of dna structure, function and interactions. Transcription is the synthesis of rna using dna as a template. The chemical structure of dna the smallest building blocks. Selected papers based on the presentations at the workshop, september 1621, 2007, minneapolis, mn, usa.
In this section, we will discuss the basic structure and function of dna. Read this article to learn about the history, types, structure, silent features and functions of dna. However, importantly, the wide and shallow morphology of the dna major groove is in stark contrast to the narrow and deep structure of the rna major groove. This information is stored in the form of long polymer chains. The doublehelix dna model the 3d arrangement of the dna molecule. The structure of deoxyribonucleotides and base pairing among n bases. Two dna strands form a helical spiral, winding around a helix axis in a righthanded spiral. Hertwig 1884 proposed nuclein to be the carrier of hereditary traits. Adenine is always opposite thymine, and cytosine is always oppostie guanine. Nucleic acids were first isolated by friedrich miescher 1869 from pus cells. The shapes and chemical structure of the bases allow hydrogen bonds to form efficiently only between a.
The structure of dna can be understood in three stages. The nucleotides are joined by a sugarphosphate backbone. The structure and function of dna depends on the sequence of the dna. The structure and function of nucleic acids biochemical society. Read and learn for free about the following article. The match between dna structure and the activities of these enzymes is so. Dna and rna structure dna and rna are nucleic acids. Dna is wellsuited to perform this biological function because of its molecular structure, and. Their main function is to maintain and transmit the genetic code. It told us that all genes have roughly the same threedimensional form and that the differences. It is important for inheritance, coding for proteins and the genetic instruction guide for life and its processes. Its orientation, width, width between nucleotides, length and number of nucleotides per helical turn is constant. Note the difference in groove width and the relative displacements of the base pairs from the central axis. In mechanisms of microbial genetics, we will discuss in detail the ways in which dna uses its own base sequence to direct its own synthesis, as well as the synthesis of rna and proteins, which, in turn, gives rise to products with diverse structure and function.