Cells as macromolecular assemblies -- Cells obey the laws of physics and chemistry -- Cells are organized into compartments -- DNA as a store of information -- Genes are mutable units -- DNA is the genetic material -- Topology of nucleic acids -- Isolating the gene --Translation: expressing genes as proteins -- Assembly line for protein synthesis -- Transfer RNA is the translational adaptor -- Ribosomes provide a translation factory -- Messenger RNA is the template --Constructing the cell -- Apparatus for protein localization -- Receptors and signal transduction: channels and ion uptake -- Cell cycle and growth regulation -- Control of prokaryotic gene expression -- Control at initiation: RNA polymerase-promoter interactions -- Panoply of operons: the lactose paradigm and others -- Control by RNA structure: termination and antitermination -- Phage strategies: lytic cascades and lysogenic repression -- Perpetuation of DNA -- Replicon: unit of replication --Primosomes and replisomes: the apparatus for DNA replication -- Systems that safeguard DNA.
(cont) Organization of the eukaryotic genome -- Extraordinary power of DNA technology -- Genome size and genetic content -- Eukaryotic gene: conserved exons and unique introns -- Gene numbers: repetition and redundancy -- Genomes sequestered in organelles -- Organization of simple sequence DNA -- Genome is packaged into chromosomes -- Chromosomes consist of nucleosomes -- Eukaryotic transcription and RNA processing -- Building the transcription complex: promoters, factors and RNA polymerases --Regulation of transcription: factors that activate the basal apparatus --Apparatus for nuclear splicing -- RNA as catalyst: changing the informational content of RNA -- Dynamic genome: DNA in flux --Recombination of DNA -- Transposons that mobilize via DNA -- Retroviruses and retroposons -- Rearrangement and amplification in the genome -- Genes in development -- Generation of immune diversity by gene reorganization -- Gene regulation in development: gradients and cascades -- Oncogenes: gene expression and cancer -- Landmark shifts in perspectives.
