Cell Biochemistry and Nucleic Acids

 

SEMESTER I

 

 

 

BC 101: Cell Biochemistry and Nucleic Acids (CBCS)

 

60 Hrs

Unit I

Water

Structure of water, interactions viz. ionic, polar-non polar, colligative properties of aqueous solutions.

Concept of pH

Henderson Hasselbalch equation, Concept of pKa, Buffers, titration curves, blood buffers and their regulation

Chemical Foundation

Concept of covalent bond, ionic bond, and coordinate bond, hydrogen bond, Van der Waals interactions, hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic interactions and London forces bond length and bond energy,

Thermodynamics

Laws of thermodynamics and their application to living systems. Concept of free energy, enthalpy, entropy and their relation to chemical equilibrium. Energy rich compounds ATP, Creatine phosphate.

Basics of evolution

Evolution of biomolecules, Miller’s experiment, RNA as primitive catalysts, Evolution of prokaryotes and eukaryotes,

Introduction to Cell Biology

Cell as a basic unit of life.   Cell organization of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.  Structural and functional properties  of cell organelles –mitochondria, chloroplast, lysosomes, golgi bodies, plasma membrane , cell wall, and nucleus.

 

15 Hrs

Unit II

Cell cycle and cell division

Mitosis and meiosis, Chromosome structure, gene. Polytene and Lampbrush chromosome. Packing of DNA and supercoiled DNA, nucleosome, inverted repeats, satellite DNA, gene number, gene clusters and pseudogene.

 

15 Hrs

Unit III

Nucleic Acids

Bases, sugars, nucleosides, nucleotides, oligonucleotides, polynucleotides.

RNA: Ribosomal RNA (rRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA) and HnRNA

DNA: Structure, base pairing, double helix, coding of genetic information, sense and antisense strands

Molecular models of DNA: B-DNA, A-conformation, Z-confirmation

 

15 Hrs

Unit IV

Nucleic Acid Metabolism

Biosynthesis and degradation of nucleotides: de novo pathways and the salvage pathway.

Degradation of nucleotides: difference in purine and pyrimidine degradation, generation of inosine monophosphate (IMP), allantoin, allantoinic acid, glyoxylate, release of uric acid and thyamine as intermediates, β-alanin, γ-aminoisobutyrate.

 

15 Hrs