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15 September 2014

# 33.1 Nucleic acids and protein synthesis - Syllabus 2015

• Structure and replication of DNA
• Role of DNA in protein synthesis

Learning Outcomes

Candidates should be able to:

(a) describe the structure of RNA and DNA and explain the importance of base pairing and the different hydrogen bonding between bases (includes reference to adenine and guanine as purines and to cytosine, thymine and uracil as pyrimidines. Structural formulae for bases is not required but the
recognition that purines have a double ring structure and pyrimidines have a single ring structure should be included);

(b) explain how DNA replicates semi-conservatively during interphase;

(c) state that a polypeptide is coded for by a gene and that a gene is a sequence of nucleotides that forms part of a DNA molecue and state that a mutation is a change in the sequence that may result in an altered polypeptide;

(d) describe the way in which the nucleotide sequence codes for the amino acid sequence in a polypeptide with reference to the nucleotide sequence for HbA (normal) and HbS (sickle cell) alleles of the gene for the β-globin polypeptide;

(e) describe how the information on DNA is used during transcription and translation to construct
polypeptides, including the role of messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA) and the ribosomes (for genetic dictionaries see section 5);

(f) use the knowledge gained in this section in new situations or to solve related problems.


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