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Biology year 1 > 2.0 Nucleic acids > Flashcards

2.0 Nucleic acids Flashcards

1
Q

What are the two types of nucleic acid?

A

RNA and DNA

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2
Q

What is the role of DNA?

A

Carries genetic information

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3
Q

What is the role of RNA?

A

Carries genetic information from DNA to the ribosomes

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4
Q

Name the monomer of a nucleic acid

A

Nucleotide

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5
Q

State the three components of a nucleotide

A

Penrose sugar, phosphate group, nitrogen-containing base

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6
Q

State the five possible bases for a nucleotide

A

Adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine, uracil

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7
Q

What is a pentose sugar?

A

A sugar containing 5 carbons

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8
Q

What pentose sugar is present in DNA?

A

Deoxyribose

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9
Q

What pentose sugar is present in RNA?

A

Ribose

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10
Q

What reaction combines the pentose sugar, organic base, and phosphate group?

A

Condensation reaction

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11
Q

What reaction combines two nucleotides?

A

Condensation reaction

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12
Q

What bond is formed when two nucleotides are combined?

A

Phosphodiester bond

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13
Q

What is one nucleotide called?

A

Mononucleotide

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14
Q

What are two bonded nucleotides called?

A

Dinucleotide

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15
Q

What is a long chain of bonded nucleotides called?

A

Polynucleotide

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16
Q

Describe the structure of DNA

A
  1. Double helix
  2. Two polynucleotide chains held together by hydrogen bonds between complimentary base pairs
17
Q

State the complimentary base pairings

A
  1. Adenine and Thymine
  2. Cytosine and Guanine
18
Q

How is the structure of DNA related to its functions?

A
  1. Two separate strands held by weak hydrogen bonds allows for separation
    2 large molecule so carries a lot of information
  2. Sugar phosphate backbone to protect genetic information
19
Q

How many hydrogen bonds form between Adenine and Thymine?

20
Q

How many hydrogen bonds form between Cytosine and Guanine?

21
Q

Describe the structure of RNA

A

Relativity short polynucleotide chain

22
Q

What are the three differences between DNA and RNA?

A
  1. DNA is double stranded, RNA is single stranded
  2. DNA has deoxyribose, RNA has ribose
  3. DNA has thymine, RNA has uracil
23
Q

How does complimentary base pairing allow is to work out the frequency of relative bases?

A

Knowing the frequency of one allows us to find out the frequency of its complimentary base, frequency of all bases equal 100% which allows others to be calculated

24
Q

State the mechanism of DNA replication

A

Semi-conservative replication

25
Q

Describe semi-conservative replication

A
  1. DNA helicase breaks hydrogen bonds which unwinds the double helix
  2. Free floating nucleotides bind to their complimentary pair
  3. DNA polymerase forms new phosphodiester bonds between adjacent nucleotides
26
Q

Why is semi-conservative replication important in the genetic continuity between cells?

A

There will always be a strand of the former DNA molecule used as a template

27
Q

What are the main stages ofDNA replication?

A
  1. DNA unwinds
  2. Hydrogen bonds break
  3. Each strand acts as a template
  4. New nucleotides attach to the template strand
  5. Condensation reactions bond nucleotides together
28
Q

State the two enzymes involved in DNA replication

A
  1. DNA helicase
  2. DNA polymerase
29
Q

What does DNA helicase do?

A

Unwinds the DNA by breaking hydrogen bonds

30
Q

What does DNA polymerase do?

A

Catalyses the condensation reaction which forms phosphodiester bonds between adjacent nucleotides

31
Q

In what direction do DNA strands in the double helix run?

A

Anti parallel

32
Q

What are the new strands of DNA formed from?

A

Free floating nucleotides

33
Q

How do free floating nucleotides get in the right order to form a complimentary strand?

A

Original strand acts as a template and the free nucleotides attach to their complimentary base pair

34
Q

How was semi-conservative replication proven to be correct?

A
  1. DNA marked with heavy nitrogen isotope then replicated with a light nitrogen isotope
  2. Mass of DNA determined by which isotopes it contained
  3. DNA spun in a centrifuge, results showed the strands were separating and forming a new strand each generation
35
Q

Why is ATP a suitable energy source for cells?

A
  1. Releases manageable amounts of energy
  2. Phosphorylates other compounds
  3. can be rapidly re synthesised
36
Q

State the roles of ATP

A
  1. Metabolic processes
  2. Movement
  3. Active transport
  4. Activation of molecules
37
Q

What are the properties of water?

A
  1. Dipolar molecule
  2. Hydrogen bonds to other molecules
  3. High specific heat capacity
  4. Cohesion and surface tension
38
Q

What is the importance of water to living organisms?

A
  1. Hydrolyses complex molecules
  2. Universal solvent

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