GENES

and
CHROMOSOMES
Desi Novaria
030 06 059
GENES
The word pangenesis is made from the Greek words pan (a prefix
meaning "whole", "encompassing") and genesis ("birth") or
genos ("origin").
A gene is a segment of nucleic acid that contains the information
necessary to produce a functional product, usually a protein.
Genes correspond to units of inheritance
They contain regulatory regions dictating under what conditions the
product is produced, transcribed regions dictating the structure
of the product, andor other functional se!uence regions
Genes consist of a long strand of "#A ($#A in some %iruses) that
contains a promoter, which controls the acti%ity of a gene, and a
coding se!uence, which determines what the gene produces.
the coding se!uence is copied in a process called transcription,
producing an $#A copy of the gene&s information. This
$#A can then direct the synthesis of proteins %ia the
genetic code
The genes of eukaryotic organisms can contain non'coding
regions called introns that are remo%ed from the messenger
$#A in a process known as splicing.
The regions that actually encode the gene product, which can
be much smaller than the introns, are known as exons.
The total complement of genes in an organism or cell is known as
its genome
The genome si(e of an organism is loosely dependent on its
complexity) prokaryotes such as bacteria and archaea ha%e
generally smaller genomes, both in number of base pairs and
number of genes, than e%en single'celled eukaryotes. *owe%er,
the largest known genome belongs to the single'celled amoeba
The estimated number of genes in the human genome has been
repeatedly re%ised downward since the completion of the
*uman Genome +ro,ect) current estimates place the human
genome at ,ust under - billion base pairs and about ./,///'
.0,/// genes.
The gene density of a genome is a measure of the number of genes
per million base pairs (called a megabase, 1b)) prokaryotic
genomes ha%e much higher gene densities than eukaryotes.
2Gene content and genome si(e of %arious organisms
3pecies Genome si(e (1b) #umber of genes
Mycoplasma genitalium /.04 0//
Streptococcus pneumoniae ... .-//
Escherichia coli 5.6 55//
Saccharomyces cerevisiae 7. 04//
Arabidopsis thaliana 7.0 .0,0//
Caenorhabditis elegans 89 78,///
Sea urchin 475 .-,-//
Drosophila melanogaster 74/ 7-,9//
Mus musculus .0// .8,///
Homo sapiens .8// .9,///
Oryza sativa 566 50'00,///
"ifferent genes for the same trait, which gi%e rise to different
phenotypes, are known as alleles.
Alleles may be dominant or recessi%e) dominant alleles gi%e
rise to their corresponding phenotypes when paired with
any other allele for the same trait, while recessi%e alleles
gi%e rise to their corresponding phenotype only when
paired with another copy of the same allele.
DNA
The modern study of genetics at the le%el of "#A is known as
molecular genetics and the synthesis of molecular genetics with
traditional "arwinian e%olution is known as the
modern e%olutionary synthesis.
"#A consists of a chain made from four types of nucleotide
subunits: adenosine, cytidine, guanosine, and thymidine. ;ach
nucleotide subunit consists of three components: a phosphate
group, a deoxyribose sugar ring, and a nucleobase
nucleotides in "#A or $#A are typically called &bases&)
conse!uently they are commonly referred to simply by their
purine or pyrimidine original base components adenine,
cytosine, guanine, thymine.
Adenine and guanine are purines and cytosine and thymine are
pyrimidines.
The most common form of "#A in a cell is in a double helix
structure, in which two indi%idual "#A strands twist around
each other in a right'handed spiral. <n this structure, the
base pairing rules specify that guanine pairs with cytosine and
adenine pairs with thymine (each pair contains one purine and
one pyrimidine).
The base pairing between guanine and cytosine forms three
hydrogen bonds, while the base pairing between adenine and
thymine forms two hydrogen bonds.
"ue to the chemical composition of the pentose residues of the
bases, "#A strands ha%e directionality.
=ne end of a "#A polymer contains an exposed hydroxyl group on
the deoxyribose, this is known as the -& end of the molecule. The
other end contains an exposed phosphate group, this is the 0& end
.
All nucleic acid synthesis in a cell occurs in the 0&'-& direction,
because new monomers are added %ia a dehydration
reaction that uses the exposed -& hydroxyl as a nucleophile.
The expression of genes encoded in "#A begins by
transcribing the gene into $#A, a second type of
nucleic acid that is %ery similar to "#A, but whose
monomers contain the sugar ribose rather than deoxyribose
.
The genetic code specifies the correspondence during
protein translation between codons and amino acids. The
genetic code is nearly the same for all known organisms.
RNA
$#A is an intermediate product in the process of manufacturing
proteins from genes.
*owe%er, for some gene se!uences, the $#A molecules are the
actual functional products.
3ome %iruses store their entire genomes in the form of $#A, and
contain no "#A at all.
$#A retro%iruses re!uire the re%erse transcription of their genome
from $#A into "#A before their proteins can be synthesi(ed.
$#A is common as genetic storage material in %iruses, in mammals
in particular $#A inheritance has been obser%ed %ery rarely.
Functional structure of a gene
All genes ha%e regulatory regions in addition to regions
that explicitly code for a protein or $#A product.
A uni%ersal regulatory region shared by all genes is
known as the promoter, which pro%ides a position that
is recogni(ed by the transcription machinery when a
gene is about to be transcribed and expressed.
Gene expression
The process of producing a biologically functional molecule of
either $#A or protein is called gene expression
There are two ma,or steps separating a protein'coding gene
from its protein:
first, the "#A on which the gene resides must be
transcribed from "#A to messenger $#A (m$#A)
second, it must be translated from m$#A to protein
The earliest level of regulation is at DNA level during transcription
Chromosomes
>efore cells di%ides, its "#A is organi(e into paired structures
called chromosomes.
A chromosome consists of a single, %ery long "#A helix on
which thousands of genes are encoded.
*uman "#A forms .- pairs of chromosomes.
;ach chromosomes splits down its length as the "#A
duplicates itself.
<nstead, only one member of a pair goes to a germ cell, which
then has .- single chromosomes.
Conclusion
A gene is a unit of DNA and RNA.
A chromosomes is an assembly of hundreds
of genes.
Every living cell includes a quantity of nucleic
acids. One type, DNA (deoyribonucleic
acid!, is enclosed in the central nucleus of
the cell. "he other, RNA (ribonucleic acid!,
is more #idely distributed.
References
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