4 - Nucleic acids

Question 1

2 types of nucleic acids

Answer 1

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Question 2

Central Dogma

Answer 2

DNA-transcription-RNA-translation-protein

Question 3

what is the purpose of a nucleic acid?

Answer 3

to encode all of the genetic information for an organism

Question 4

Components of nucleic acids

Answer 4

• Sugar

– Deoxyribose in DNA

– Ribose in RNA

• Phosphate group
• Base

Question 5

nucleoside triphosphate

Answer 5

monomers used in the synthesis of nucleic acids

Question 6

How are nucleic acid chains formed?

Answer 6

growing nucleic acid ( n residues) + nucleoside triphosphate= growing nucleic acid ( n+1 residues) + pyrophosphate

Question 7

phosphodiester linkage

Answer 7

bond between nucleotides in nucleotide chain to form polynucleotide

Question 8

which atoms does a phosphodiester link bond to?

Answer 8

The hydroxyl group on carbon-3’ of one sugar is joined to the hydroxyl group on carbon-5’ of the next

Question 9

how is the base sequence written

Answer 9

5’ to 3’ direction

Question 10

What does the base sequence do?

Answer 10

encode genetic information

Question 11

What did Watson and Crick discover?

Answer 11

• 2 DNA strands in a helix
• there must be 10 residues per turn
• The repeat distance was 3.4nm so the helical rise was 0.34nm

Question 12

Which bases are purines?

Answer 12

Adenine and Guanine

Question 13

Which bases are pyrimidines?

Answer 13

cytosine, thymine, uracil

Question 14

which components lie outside of the helix?

Answer 14

phosphate groups and sugars

Question 15

How do hydrogen bonds between 2 strands form?

Answer 15

due to complementary base pairing between opposite strands

Question 16

where do van der waals forces form

Answer 16

between successive bases on the same strand