Concept explainers
Interpretation:
The reason behind the rather large energy “overkill” in inserting a deoxyribonucleic acid into the growing DNA molecule. There is about 15 kcal mol–1 energy used in forming a phosphodiester bond, which is about one-third of the energy.
Concept introduction:
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic material of the body. The process by which the DNA duplicates to produce two double-stranded molecules is known as replication. Replication is a very complex process and requires a high degree of accuracy and fine-tuning.
The deoxyribonucleic acids are the substrate for the process. The replication process is catalyzed by the DNA-dependent DNA polymerase enzyme. The DNA molecule serves as the template and the enzyme adds deoxyribonucleotides complementary to the sequence of the template DNA.
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Biochemistry
- REFLECT AND APPLY Why is it not surprising that the addition of nucleotides to a growing DNA chain takes place by nucleophilic substitution?arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY List three mechanisms that relax the twisting stress in helical DNA molecules.arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY Why is a trimming process important in converting precursors of tRNA and rRNA to the active forms?arrow_forward
- REFLECT AND APPLY Explain how DNA gyrase works.arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY Which would you expect to have a higher entropy: DNA in its well-known double-helical form, or DNA with the strands separated?arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY Suggest a reason why it would be unlikely for replication to take place without unwinding the DNA helix.arrow_forward
- REFLECT AND APPLY Explain why a 50S ribosomal subunit and a 30S ribosomal subunit combine to form a 70S subunit, instead of an 80S subunit.arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY Give the DNA sequence for the template strand that gives rise to the following sequence gel, prepared using the Sanger method with a radioactive label at the 5' end of the primer.arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY (a) Is it biologically advantageous that DNA is stable? Why or why not? (b) Is it biologically advantageous that RNA is unstable? Why or why not?arrow_forward
- REFLECT AND APPLY You are in the process of determining the amino acid sequence of a protein and must reconcile contradictory results. In one trial, you determine a sequence with glycine as the N-terminal amino acid and asparagine as the C-terminal amino acid. In another trial, your results indicate phenylalanine as the N-terminal amino acid and alanine as the C-terminal amino acid. How do you reconcile this apparent contradiction?arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY Why was it necessary to specify that the DNA in Question 33 is double-stranded?arrow_forwardREFLECT AND APPLY Would you expect tRNA or mRNA to be more extensively hydrogen bonded? Why?arrow_forward
- BiochemistryBiochemistryISBN:9781305961135Author:Mary K. Campbell, Shawn O. Farrell, Owen M. McDougalPublisher:Cengage Learning