You are a reporter working in 2001 who's just been assigned a story on how ciprofloxacin may save the lives of Senate staff expo
sed to anthrax. Complete a short paragraph that links how DNADNA is replicated to defense against this act of bioterrorism. Match the terms in the left column to the appropriate blanks in the sentences on the right. Terms can be used once, more than once, or not at all.
Bacterial DNA is a double-stranded helix that has to ___________ its strands during replication. The _______ of DNA strands at the replication fork creates twists farther down the helix that need to be ______ by DNA _______. Ciprofloxacin ______ this enzyme to block DNA synthesis and stop the deadly bacteria from growing.
Bacterial DNA is a double-stranded helix that has to separate its strands during replication. The unwinding of DNA strands at the replication fork creates twists farther down the helix that need to be relaxed by DNA gyrase. Ciprofloxacin inhibits this enzyme to block DNA synthesis and stop the deadly bacteria from growing.
Explanation:
DNA which stands for deoxyribonucleic acid is the molecules that stores genetic information in most living organisms. For successive reproduction to take place as well as growth to occurs in organisms, the genetic information stored in the DNA must be copied into new cells. This is achieved through the process of DNA replication.
DNA is a double-stranded molecule that is helical in shape. For replication to occur, the double strands has to be separated so that the information stored within can be accessed and then copied. DNA helicases are enzymes which are essential during DNA replication because they separate double-stranded DNA into single strands allowing each strand to be copied. The unwinding of DNA strands at the replication fork creates twists farther down the helix that need to be relaxed otherwise, the DNA strands will break. The enzyme responsible for relaxation these twists is known as DNA gyrase. Thus, any drug like Ciprofloxacin than inhibits DNA gyrase will block the DNA replication process in bacteria thereby stopping the growth of the bacteria.
