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8 kwi 2019 · Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a biological macromolecule that carries hereditary information in many organisms. DNA is necessary for the production of proteins, the regulation, metabolism, and reproduction of the cell.
13 wrz 2023 · The primary function of DNA is to store and transmit genetic information from a parent cell to a daughter cell. DNA contains the instructions that determine an organism’s characteristics, such as its physical traits, behavior, and metabolic processes.
The ability of each strand of a DNA molecule to act as a template for producing a complementary strand enables a cell to copy, or replicate, its genes before passing them on to its descendants. In the next chapter we describe the elegant machinery the cell uses to perform this enormous task.
DNA is a working molecule; it must be replicated (copied) when a cell is ready to divide, and it must be “read” to produce the molecules, such as proteins, to carry out the functions of the cell. For this reason, the DNA is protected and packaged in very specific ways.
A cell’s DNA, packaged as a double-stranded DNA molecule, is called its genome. In prokaryotes, the genome is composed of a single, double-stranded DNA molecule in the form of a loop or circle (Figure 10.2). The region in the cell containing this genetic material is called a nucleoid.
The most basic function of the cell cycle is to duplicate accurately the vast amount of DNA in the chromosomes and then segregate the copies precisely into two genetically identical daughter cells. These processes define the two major phases of the cell cycle.
31 paź 2020 · More precisely, the key function of the largest compartment of the eukaryotic cell, the nucleus and its major constituents, the chromosomes, is emphasized and presented in great detail. The most classical function of the nucleus is the DNA replication in terms of cell division.
