Guiding Questions

Summary:

Use these questions to inform your reading, to gauge your understanding, and to guide your review.

Guiding Questions

mcourtney 07 Jan 2008 12:34

DNA as the Genetic Material

1. Explain why researchers originally thought protein was the genetic material.
2. Summarize the experiments performed by the following scientists that provided evidence that DNA is the genetic material:
   1. Frederick Griffith
   2. Oswald Avery, Maclyn McCarty, and Colin MacLeod
   3. Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
   4. Erwin Chargaff
3. Explain how Watson and Crick deduced the structure of DNA and describe the evidence they used.
4. Explain the significance of the research of Rosalind Franklin.
5. Describe the structure of DNA. Explain the base-pairing rule and describe its significance.

DNA Replication and Repair

1. Describe the semiconservative model of replication and the significance of the experiments of Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl.
2. Describe the process of DNA replication, including the role of the origins of replication and replication forks.
3. Explain the role of DNA polymerases in replication.
4. Explain what energy source drives the polymerization of DNA.
5. Define antiparallel and explain why continuous synthesis of both DNA strands is not possible.
6. Distinguish between the leading strand and the lagging strand.
7. Explain how the lagging strand is synthesized even though DNA polymerase can add nucleotides only to the 39 end. Describe the significance of Okazaki fragments.
8. Explain the roles of DNA ligase, primer, primase, helicase, topoisomerase, and single-strand binding proteins.
9. Explain why an analogy can be made comparing DNA replication to a locomotive made of DNA polymerase moving along a railroad track of DNA.
10. Explain the roles of DNA polymerase, mismatch repair enzymes, and nuclease in DNA proofreading and repair.
11. Describe the structure and function of telomeres.
12. Explain the possible significance of telomerase in germ cells and cancerous cell.