DNA Discovery and Structure

phosphate group

A functional group consisting of a phosphorus atom covalently bonded to four oxygen atoms

Nitrogenous bases in DNA

Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine

Avery, MacLeod, McCarty

Determined that DNA was Griffith's "Transforming Factor."

Watson and Crick

Developed the double helix model of DNA.

Griffith's experiment

Reported in 1928 by Fredrick Griffith, was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation

Guanine

The base that pairs with Cytosine in DNA

Cytosine

The base that pairs with Guanine with DNA

Adenine

The base that pairs with Thymine in DNA

weak hydrogen bonds between nitrogenous bases

The bonds that hold the two strands of DNA together come from

Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins

Used x-ray crystallography to study DNA structure

Hershey and Chase

concluded that the genetic material of the bacteriophage was DNA, not protein.

DNA

deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.

Edwin Chargaff

discovered that identical quantities of A and T, C and G were present in DNA

Nucleotide

monomer of nucleic acids made up of a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base

Deoxyribose sugar

sugar used in DNA to make up the "backbone"

Thymine

the nucleotide that hydrogen bonds with the nucleotide adenine in DNA.

double helix

two strands of nucleotides wound about each other; structure of DNA