201: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
UNIT I
1. Nature of Gene : Evolution of Gene Concept, Chemical Nature of Gene, Gene-cistron
relationship in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
2. DNA Replication : General features of Chromosomal Replication; DNA Replication
Machinery in Prokaryotes and its comparison with Eukaryotes
3. Enzymology of DNA Replication : DNA Polymerases; Primases; Ligases; Helicases;
Topoisomerases; Gyrases and Single Stranded Binding Proteins
4. Regulation of DNA Replication
UNIT II
1. Transcription in Prokaryotes : Initiation, elongation and termination
2. Structure and functions of prokaryotic promoter
3. Control of transcriptional initiation in prokaryotes : Structure and functions of RNA
Polymerase; Sigma factors – Types and functions
4. Control of transcriptional termination in prokaryotes : Intrinsic termination and Rho
factor dependent termination; attenuation and antitermination
UNIT III
1. Regulation of Gene Expression in Prokaryotes : Operon concept, induction and
repression, Structure and regulation of lactose, arabinose and tryptophan operons
2. Initiation of Transcription in Eukaryotes : RNA Polymerases – Types and properties;
Promoter – Types, structure and properties
3. Transcription factors – Types and properties; Enhancers – Structure and properties;
Response Elements
4. Post-transcriptional Modification Eukaryotes – 5’ and 3’ modification of mRNA
UNIT IV
1. Post-transcriptional Processing of pre mRNA, pre rRNA and pre tRNA transcripts
2. Genetic Code : Evidence and properties; Wobble hypothesis; Transcriptional adaptors
and amino acyl tRNA synthetases
3. Translation : Successive stages of protein synthesis in prokaryotes and its comparison
with eukaryotes
4. Post-translational Modification : Types and Significance
UNIT V
1. Regulation of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes: cis-acting DNA Elements; Chromatin
organization and regulation of gene expression; Regulation at the level of processing of
transcripts
2. Regulation of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes : RNA Editing; Gene Alteration; DNA
methylation and gene regulation; Regulation of gene expression by hormones;
Regulation of gene expression at translational level
3. Transposable elements in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes: Types and significance
4. Oncogenes and Tumor Suppressor Genes: Properties and significance
Practical Exercises
1. Isolation of genomic DNA and restriction digestion
2. Size fractionation of restricted DNA fragments by Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
3. Quantitation of DNA
4. Determination of Amax of purified DNA fragments
5. Determination of Tm of nucleic acid
6. Isolation of RNA
7. Fractionation of poly (A)+ RNA
8. In vitro transcription
9. In vitro translation
10. Metabolic labeling of proteins and immunoprecipitation
11. Protein- DNA interaction
Reference Books
1. Genes VIII , Benjamin Lewin
2. Molecular Biology , Turner et al
3. Cell and Molecular Biology : Concepts and Experiments , Gerald Karp
4. Transcriptional Regulation in Eukaryotes (2000), Carey and Smale
5. Translational control of gene Expression (2000), Sonenberg et al
6. Chromatin and Gene Regulation (2001), Turner
7. An Introduction to Genetic Analysis , Griffiths et al
8. Genome (1999), Brown
9. Concepts of Genetics, Klug and Cummings
10. Proteins , Creighton
11. Molecular Cell Biology , Lodhish et al
12. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants (2000), Buchanan
13. Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology , Lea and Leegood
14. Plant Biochemistry (1997), Dey and Harborne
Note: All text books are of latest editions.
