NCERT Class 12 Biology Molecular Basis of Inheritance

MOLECULAR BASIS OF INHERITANCE

In the previous chapter, you have learnt the inheritance patterns and the genetic basis of such patterns. At the time of Mendel, the nature of those ‘factors’ regulating the pattern of inheritance was not clear. Over the next hundred years, the nature of the putative genetic material was investigated culminating in the realisation that DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid – is the genetic material, at least for the majority of organisms. In class XI you have learnt that nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are the two types of nucleic acids found in living systems. DNA acts as the genetic material in most of theorganisms.

RNA though it also acts as a genetic material in some viruses, mostly functions as a messenger. RNA has additional roles as well. It functions as adapter, structural, and in some cases as a catalytic molecule. In Class XI you have already learnt the structures of nucleotides and the way these monomer units are linked to form nucleic acid polymers. In this chapter we are going to discuss the structure of DNA, its replication, the process of making RNA from DNA (transcription), the genetic code that determines the sequences of amino acids in proteins,  the process of protein synthesis (translation) andelementary basis of their regulation. The determination of complete nucleotide sequence of human genome during last decade has set in a new era of genomics. In the last section, the essentials of human genome sequencing and its consequences will also be discussed.

Let us begin our discussion by first understanding the structure of the most interesting molecule in the living system, that is, the DNA. In subsequent sections, we will understand that why it is the most abundant genetic material, and what its relationship is with RNA.

6.1 THE DNA

DNA is a long polymer of deoxyribonucleotides. The length of DNA is usually defined as number of nucleotides (or a pair of nucleotide referred to as base pairs) present in it. This also is the characteristic of an organism. For example, a bacteriophage known as φ 174 has 5386 nucleotides, Bacteriophage lambda has 48502 base pairs (bp), Escherichia coli has 4.6 × 106 bp, and haploid content of human DNA is 3.3 × 109 bp. Let us discuss the structure of such a long polymer.  

Let us recapitulate the chemical structure of a polynucleotide chain (DNA or RNA). A nucleotide has three components – a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar (ribose in case of RNA, and deoxyribose for DNA), and a phosphate group. There are two types of nitrogenous bases – Purines (Adenine and Guanine), and Pyrimidines (Cytosine, Uracil and Thymine). Cytosine is common for both DNA and RNA and Thymine is present in DNA. Uracil is present in RNA at the place of Thymine. A nitrogenous base is linked to the pentose sugar through a N-glycosidic linkage to form a nucleoside, such as adenosine or deoxyadenosine, guanosine or deoxyguanosine, cytidine or deoxycytidine and uridine or deoxythymidine. When a phosphate group is linked to 5'-OH of a nucleoside through phosphoester linkage, a corresponding nucleotide (or deoxynucleotide depending upon the type of sugar present) is formed. Two nucleotides are linked through 3'-5' phosphodiester linkage to form a dinucleotide. More nucleotides can be joined in such a manner to form a polynucleotide chain. 

EXERCISES

1 Group the following as nitrogenous bases and nucleosides: Adenine, Cytidine, Thymine, Guanosine, Uracil and Cytosine.

2. If a double stranded DNA has 20 per cent of cytosine, calculate the per cent of adenine in the DNA.

3. If the sequence of one strand of DNA is written as follows:

      5'-ATGCATGCATGCATGCATGCATGCATGC-3'

      Write down the sequence of complementary strand in 5'→3' direction.

4. If the sequence of the coding strand in a transcription unit is written as follows:

      5'-ATGCATGCATGCATGCATGCATGCATGC-3'

      Write down the sequence of mRNA.

5. Which property of DNA double helix led Watson and Crick to hypothesise semi-conservative mode of DNA replication? Explain.

6. Depending upon the chemical nature of the template (DNA or RNA) and the nature of nucleic acids synthesised from it (DNA or RNA), list the types of nucleic acid polymerases.

7. How did Hershey and Chase differentiate between DNA and protein in their experiment while proving that DNA is the genetic material?

8. Differentiate between the followings:

 (a) Repetitive DNA and Satellite DNA

 (b) mRNA and tRNA

 (c) Template strand and Coding strand

9. List two essential roles of ribosome during translation.

10. In the medium where E. coli was growing, lactose was added, which induced the lac operon. Then, why does lac operon shut down some time after addition of lactose in the medium?

11. Explain (in one or two lines) the function of the followings:

 (a) Promoter

 (b) tRNA

 (c) Exons

12. Why is the Human Genome project called a mega project?

13. What is DNA fingerprinting? Mention its application.

14. Briefly describe the following:

 (a) Transcription

 (b) Polymorphism

 (c) Translation

 (d) Bioinformatics

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 Biology Molecular Basis of Inheritance