3.8Nucleic Acids Flashcards
What are the 2 types
RNA
DNA
What biological molecules do nucleic acids contain
Carbon hydrogen oxygen nitrogen and phosphorous
What is a nucleic acid
Large polymers formed from m at nucleotides linked together
What is a nucleotide made up of
A phosphate group that’s negatively charged
A nitrogenous base
A sugar - pentose monosaccharide
How do nucleotides join to make polymer chains
And what does it form
By condensation reaction to form polynucleotide
Phosphate group of 5th carbon on the pentose sugar forms a convalent bond with the hydroxyl group at the 3rd carbon of teh pwnstose sugar of the adjacent nucleotide
Bonds formed are phosphodiester bonds
Forming a strong sugar phosphate back bone
What does dna stand for
Deoxyribonucleic acid
What is the sugar in dna
Deoxyribose
It has 1 fewer oxygen Atom than ribose
What are the 4 different dna nucleotides and what are the 2 catagories they fall into
Pyrimidines contain thymine and cytosine they are smaller and contain a single carbon ring structure
Purines contain adenine and guanine they are larger and contain a double ring structure
What is the dna double helix
The 2 strands of polynucleotides that make up dna which coil up into a helix
How are the 2 strands held together
By hydrogen bonds between the bases
What are the base pairing rules and what’s its name
A and T bond only making 2 hydrogen bonds
C and G bond only making 3 hydrogen bonds
It’s called complementary base pairing
What does RNA stand for
Ribonucleic acid
What does RNA do
Has an essential role in the transfer of genetic info from dna to proteins
Why is rna used instead of dna to transfer info
RNA is small enough to leave nucleus and travel to Ribosome
What is the sugar and base in rna
Sugar is ribose
Base is Uracil and replaces the thymine base
