Exam 10: DNA Structure and Analysis

Briefly define transformation and describe the relationship between the phenomenon of transformation and the discovery that DNA is the genetic material in bacteria.

What is the name of the precursor molecule used in nucleic acid synthesis?

Is the accompanying figure DNA or RNA? Is the circle closer to the 5′ or 3′ end?

Hershey and Chase used labeled DNA and protein to determine that DNA is the genetic material in bacteria.

Considering the structure of double-stranded DNA, which kind(s) of bonds hold one complementary strand to the other?

If the GC content of a DNA molecule is 60%, what are the molar percentages of the four bases (G, C, T, A)?

Experiments conducted in the 1920s by Frederick Griffith involving the bacterium Diplococcus pneumoniae demonstrated that a substance from one bacterial strain could genetically transform other bacterial strains. What was the name of the substance capable of such transformation, and who finally determined its identity?

Considering the Central Dogma of Molecular Genetics, what general property is ascribed to DNA?

When and in which journal did Watson and Crick publish their now-famous paper entitled "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid."

Suppose that the dinucleotide in the accompanying figure was cleaved with the enzyme spleen diesterase, which breaks the covalent bond connecting the phosphate to C-5′. After such cleavage, to which nucleoside is the phosphate now attached?

What does it mean to say that double-stranded nucleic acids are antiparallel?

Regarding the structure of DNA, the covalently arranged combination of a deoxyribose and a nitrogenous base would be called a(n) ________.

Beatrice Mintz and others microinjected DNA into a fertilized mouse egg, which after reaching maturity could be transmitted to the mouse's offspring. What is the general term used to describe an organism that incorporates foreign DNA?

DNA has no sulfur, and proteins have no phosphorus.

Deoxyribonuclease is an enzyme that adds 3′-hydroxyl groups to RNA.

The base content of a sample of DNA is as follows: A = 31%, G = 31%, T = 19%, C = 19%. What conclusion can be drawn from this information?

In 1953, Watson and Crick published a paper that described the structure of DNA.

Reverse transcriptase is an enzyme found in association with retroviral activity. It has the property of ________.

What are the two major components of the Tobacco Mosaic Virus?

Is the accompanying figure DNA or RNA? Is the circle closer to the 5′ or 3′ end?