The maintenance of genetic integrity demands not only that enzymes exist for the synthesis of DNA but that they function so as to ensure the replication of the genetic information (encoded in the DNA to be copied) with absolute fidelity. This implies that the assembly of new regions of a DNA molecule must occur on a template of DNA already present in the cell. The synthetic processes must also be capable of repairing limited regions of DNA, which may have been damaged, for example, as a consequence of exposure to ultraviolet irradiation. The physical structure of DNA is ideally adapted to its biological roles. Two strands of nucleotides are wound around each other in the form of a double helix. The helix is stabilized by hydrogen bonds that occur between the purine and pyrimidine bases of the strands. Thus, the adenine of one strand pairs with the thymine of the other, and the guanine of one strand with the cytosine of the other. The base pairs may be visualized as the treads of a spiral staircase, in which the two chains of repeating units (i.e., ribose-phosphate-ribose) form the sides.

During the biosynthesis of DNA, the two strands unwind, and each serves as a template for the synthesis of a new, complementary strand, in which the bases pair in exactly the same manner as occurred in the parent double helix. The process is catalyzed by a DNA polymerase enzyme, which catalyzes the addition of the appropriate deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (NTP) in [86] onto one end, specifically, the free 3′-hydroxyl end (―OH) of the growing DNA chain. In [86] the addition of a deoxyribonucleoside monophosphate (dNMP) moiety onto a growing DNA chain (5′-DNA-polymer-3′-ΟΗ) is shown; the other product is inorganic pyrophosphate. The specific nucleotide inserted in the growing chain is dictated by the base in the complementary (template) strand of DNA with which it pairs. The functioning of DΝΑ polymerase thus requires the presence of all four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (i.e., dATP, dTPP, dGTP, and dCTP) as well as preformed DNA to act as a template. Although a number of DNA polymerase enzymes have been purified from different organisms, it is not yet certain whether those that have been most extensively studied are necessarily involved in the formation of new DNA molecules, or whether they are primarily concerned with the repair of damaged regions of molecules. A polynucleotide ligase that effects the formation of the phosphate bond between adjacent sugar molecules is concerned with the repair function but may also have a role in synthesis.

Synthesis of RNA

Various types of RNA are found in living organisms: messenger RNA (mRNA) is involved in the immediate transcription of regions of DNA; transfer RNA (tRNA) is concerned with the incorporation of amino acids into proteins; and structural RNA is found in the ribosomes that form the protein-synthesizing machinery of the cell. In cells of organisms with well-defined nuclei (i.e., eukaryotes), a heterogenous RNA fraction of unknown function is constantly broken down and resynthesized in the nucleus of the cell but does not leave it. The different types of RNA are synthesized via RNA polymerases (reaction [87]), the action of which is analogous to that of the DNA polymerases that catalyze reaction [86]. In reaction [87] the growing RNA chain is represented by 5′-RNA-polymer-3′-ΟΗ, and the ribonucleoside triphosphate by NTP. One product (5′-RNA-polymer-NMP-3′-OH) reflects the incorporation of ribonucleoside monophosphate; the other product is, as in [86], inorganic pyrophosphate. Synthesis of RNA requires DNA as a template, thus ensuring that the base composition of the RNA faithfully reflects that of the DNA; in addition, as in DNA synthesis, all four nucleoside triphosphates must be present. The major differences between reactions [86] and [87] are that, in the latter, the nucleotides contain ribose instead of deoxyribose, and that, in RNA, uracil replaces the thymine of DNA.

It appears that, although only one strand of the DNA double helix serves as template during the formation of RNA, some regions are transcribed from one strand, some from the other.

An important constraint on RNA synthesis is that the accurate copying of the appropriate DNA strand by RNA polymerase must start at the beginning of a gene—and not somewhere along it—and must stop as soon as the genetic information has been transcribed. The way in which this selectivity is achieved is not yet fully understood, although it has been established that E. coli contains a protein, the sigma factor, that is not required for the incorporation of the nucleoside triphosphates into the growing RNA chain but apparently is essential for binding RNA polymerase to the proper DNA sites to initiate RNA synthesis. After the initiation step, the sigma factor is released; the role of the sigma factor in transcription suggests that the DNA at the initiation sites must be unique in some way so as to ensure that the correct strand is used as the template. Evidence indicates further that other protein factors are involved in the termination of transcription.

Synthesis of proteins

Approximately 120 macromolecules are involved directly or indirectly in the process of the translation of the base sequence of a messenger RNA molecule into the amino acid sequence of a protein. The relationship between the base sequence and the amino acid sequence constitutes the genetic code. The basic properties of the code are: it is triplet—i.e., a linear sequence of three bases in mRNA specifies one amino acid in a protein; it is nonoverlapping—i.e., each triplet is discrete and does not overlap either neighbour; it is degenerate—i.e., many of the 20 amino acids are specified by more than one of the 64 possible triplets of bases; and it appears to apply universally to all living organisms.

The main sequence of events associated with the expression of this genetic code, as elucidated for E. coli, may be summarized as follows (see also heredity: Molecular genetics).

1. Messenger RNA binds to the smaller of two subunits of large particles termed ribosomes.

2. The amino acid that begins the assembly of the protein chain is activated and transferred to a specific transfer RNA (tRNA). The activation step, catalyzed by an aminoacyl–tRNA synthetase specific for a particular amino acid, effects the formation of an aminoacyl–AMP complex ([88a]) in a manner somewhat analogous to reaction [77]; ATP is required, and inorganic pyrophosphate is a product. The aminoacyl–AMP, which remains bound to the enzyme, is transferred to a specific molecule of tRNA in a reaction catalyzed by the same enzyme. AMP is released, and the other product is called aminoacyl–tRNA ([88b]). In E. coli the amino acid that begins the assembly of the protein is always formylmethionine (f-Met). There is no evidence that f-Met is involved in protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells.

3. Aminoacyl–tRNA binds to the mRNA-ribosomal complex in a reaction in which energy is provided by the hydrolysis of GTP to GDP and inorganic phosphate. In this step and in 5 below, the genetic code is translated. All of the different tRNAs contain triplets of bases that pair specifically with the complementary base triplets in mRNA; the base triplets in mRNA specify the amino acids to be added to the protein chain. During or shortly after the pairing occurs the aminoacyl–tRNA moves from the aminoacyl-acceptor (A) site on the ribosome to another site, called a peptidyl-donor (P) site.

4. The larger subunit of the ribosome then joins the mRNA–f-Met–tRNA–smaller ribosomal subunit complex.

5. The second amino acid to be added to the protein chain is specified by the triplet of bases adjacent to the initiator triplet in mRNA. The amino acid is activated and transferred to its tRNA by a repetition of reactions [88a] and [88b]. This newly formed aminoacyl–tRNA now binds to the A site of the mRNA–ribosome complex, with concomitant hydrolysis of GTP.

6. The enzyme peptidyl transferase, which is part of the larger of the two ribosomal subunits, catalyzes the transfer of formylmethionine from the tRNA to which it is attached (designated tRNA^f-Met) to the second amino acid; for example, if the second amino acid were leucine, step 5 would have achieved the binding of leucyl–tRNA (Leu–tRNA^Leu) next to f-Met–tRNA^f-Met on the ribosome–mRNA complex. Step 6 catalyzes the transfer reaction that is shown in [89], in which tRNA^f-Met is released from formyl-methionine (f-Met), and Leu–tRNA^Leu is bound to formyl-methionine.

7. In the next step three results are achieved. The dipeptide f-Met–Leu (a dipeptide consists of two amino acids) moves from the A (aminoacyl-acceptor) site to the P (peptidyl-donor) site on the ribosome; the tRNA^f-Met is thereby displaced from the P site, and the ribosome moves the length of one triplet (three bases) along the mRNA molecule. The occurrence of these events is accompanied by the hydrolysis of a second molecule of GTP and leaves the system ready to receive the next aminoacyl–tRNA (by repetition of step 5). The cycle of events in 5, 6, and 7 is repeated until the ribosome moves to a triplet on the mRNA that does not specify an amino acid but provides the signal for termination of the amino acid chain. Triplets of this type are represented by one uracil (U) preceding, and adjacent to, two adenines (UAA) or preceding one adenine and one guanosine in either order (UGA, or UAG).

8. At the termination of synthesis the completed protein is released from the tRNA to which it had remained linked. Two further events then occur in E. coli. First, the formyl constituent of the f-methionyl moiety is hydrolyzed by the catalytic action of a formylase, producing a protein with methionine at the end. If the required protein does not contain methionine in this position (and the majority of proteins in E. coli appear to), the methionine and possibly other amino acids that follow it are removed by enzymatic reactions. Second, the ribosome–mRNA complex dissociates, and the ribosomal subunits become available for a new round of translation by binding another mRNA molecule, step 1.

For the sake of brevity, other ancillary protein factors that participate in this sequence of events 1 to 8 have been omitted. The role of many of these factors is as yet poorly understood.