Biologia Molecolare 3

Students will learn the basic concepts of genetic material, the flow of genetic information, and the mechanisms that control its maintenance and variability, as well as the regulation of gene expression. They will also be able to discuss the structure of macromolecules that carry genetic information, mechanisms that maintain the continuity and quality of genetic information, and the main mechanisms that regulate gene expression.

• DNA structure: historical experiments; structure and conformation; chemical structure of bases and nucleotides; tautomeric conformations; denaturation and hybridization; unusual structures. 
  
• DNA topology: supercoiling; topological parameters; topoisomerase. 
  
• RNA structure: chemical and structural features; formation of secondary structures; RNA classes and biological roles; ribozymes. 
  
• Organization of DNA in the cell: prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes: general organization, physical features; genetic content and repetitive DNA content; reassociation kinetics; histones and nucleosomes; nucleosome assembly; structural elements of chromosomes and chromatin; molecular aspects of chromosome duplication and segregation. 
  
• DNA replication in prokaryotes and eukaryotes: structure and function of bacterial and eukaryotic DNA polymerases, catalytic mechanism; structure and function of various enzymes involved in replication; initiation phase of replication, structure and organization of origins and replicators; termination of replication; regulation of replication. 
  
• DNA mutability: major DNA mutations; DNA repair systems.
  
• Recombination: general principles of homologous recombination and molecular machinery; adaptations of homologous recombination in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, biological significance; use of recombination in specialized situations: site-specific recombination; main enzymes involved in genetic recombination. 
  
• Transposition and retrotransposition: transposons and molecular mechanisms of transposition; retrotransposons and retrovisrus, molecular mechanisms of mobility. Regulation of transposition. 
  
• Transcription in prokaryotes and eukaryotes: general molecular principles and mechanisms; structure and function of RNA polymerases; general organization of bacterial and eukaryotic promoters; transcription initiation and termination; eukaryotic transcription factors. 
  
• RNA maturation: modifications of eukaryotic mRNAs, tRNAs and rRNAs; splicing and its molecular machinery, general principles and mechanism; alternative splicing; RNA editing; major molecular mechanisms of regulation of RNA maturation.
  
• Translation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes: genetic code, suppressor mutations; RNA classes involved in translation; ribosome structure and function; phases of translation; translation-dependent regulation of mRNA and protein stability. 
  
• Regulation of gene expression in bacteriophages and prokaryotes: regulation of transcription initiation in prokaryotes; activators and repressors; operon organization and attenuation; regulation of gene expression in lambda. 
  
• Regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes: mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes; transcription factors and DNA binding domains; signal transduction; regulation of chromatin structure; gene silencing; regulatory RNAs. 
  
• Molecular Biology techniques: electrophoresis of biological macromolecules; hybridization; principles of gene cloning and recombinant DNA technology; PCR and sequencing.