BIOMOLECULES AND ENZYMES

BIOLOGY

STRUCTURE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which of these chemical “tags", if attached to a nucleosome, would inhibit gene expression?
A
methyl group
B
acetyl group
C
both of these
D
neither of these
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -DNA methylation involves the attachment of small chemical groups called methyl groups (each consisting of one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms) to DNA building blocks. When methyl groups are present on a gene, that gene is turned off or silenced, and no protein is produced from that gene.

Detailed explanation-2: -The promoters of inactive genes become methylated at certain cytosine residues, and the resulting methylcytosine stabilizes nucleosomes and prevents transcription factors from binding.

Detailed explanation-3: -Typically, this group is added to specific places on the DNA, where it blocks the proteins that attach to DNA to “read” the gene. This chemical group can be removed through a process called demethylation. Typically, methylation turns genes “off” and demethylation turns genes “on.”

Detailed explanation-4: -In this process, proteins attach chemical tags called methyl groups to the bases of the DNA molecule in specific places. The methyl groups turn genes on or off by affecting interactions between the DNA and other proteins. In this way, cells can remember which genes are on or off.

There is 1 question to complete.