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Biology > Chapter 3.8 - Nucleic acids > Flashcards

Chapter 3.8 - Nucleic acids Flashcards

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1
Q

What are nucleotides?

A

The monomers used to form the polymer nucleic acids

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2
Q

Give two examples of polymers of nucleotides

A
  1. Dimers - dinucleotides
  2. Polynucleotides (nucleic acids)
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3
Q

What are the three components of nucleotides?

A
  1. Pentose sugar (contains 5 carbon atoms)
  2. Nitrogenous base (contains carbon and nitrogen)
  3. Phosphate group (contains phosphate)
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4
Q

How are polynucleotides formed?

A

They are formed by the joining of nucleotides via condensation reactions, the phosphate group of one nucleotide forms a covalent bond with a sugar of another, the bond is called a phosphodiester bond

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5
Q

How can phosphodiester bonds be broken?

A

They can be broken by hydrolysis reactions which release the nucleotide monomers

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6
Q

What are the two types of nucleic acids?

A

DNA and RNA

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7
Q

What is DNA?

A

A type of nucleic acid that contains the instructions needed to make proteins

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8
Q

What is each DNA nucleotide made up of?

A
  1. Deoxyribose - pentose sugar
  2. A,T,G, or C base - nitrogenous base
  3. Phosphate group
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9
Q

What are the six features of the structure of DNA?

A
  1. Sugar-phosphate backbone
  2. Double stranded
  3. Large molecule
  4. Double helix
  5. Complimentary base pairing
  6. Weak hydrogen bonds
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10
Q

How does the sugar-pentose backbone allow DNA to pass genetic information from one generation to another?

A

It protects the coding bases on the inside of the helix

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11
Q

How do the double strands allow DNA to pass genetic information from one generation to another?

A

Both strands can act as templates in DNA replication

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12
Q

How does DNA being a large molecule allow DNA to pass genetic information from one generation to another?

A

It can store lots of information

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13
Q

How does DNA having a double helix allow DNA to pass genetic information from one generation to another?

A

It makes the molecule compact

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14
Q

How does complimentary base pairing allow DNA to pass genetic information from one generation to another?

A

It makes sure the replication of DNA is accurate

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15
Q

How do the weak hydrogen bonds allow DNA to pass genetic information from one generation to another?

A

The strands can separate in DNA replication as the hydrogen bonds hold the strands together and do not require much energy to overcome

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16
Q

What does it mean when DNA is anti-parallel?

A

The two strands of DNA are antiparallel which means one strand runs in a 5’ to 3’ direction while the other runs in a 3’ to 5’ direction

17
Q

What are the two types of nitrogenous bases?

A

Purines and pyrimidines

18
Q

What are purines?

A

Larger nitrogenous bases that contain two carbon ring structures (A and G)

19
Q

What are pyrimidines?

A

Smaller nitrogenous bases that contain one carbon ring structure (T and C)

20
Q

How are DNA strands held together?

A

The nitrogenous bases are bonded via hydrogen bonds, holding the two DNA strands together

21
Q

How is the arrangement of purine and pyrimidine bases always binding together effective?

A

The arrangement maintains a constant distance between the two sugar-phosphate backbones

22
Q

What are the base pairs and how many hydrogen bonds are required to hold them together?

A
  1. Adenine pairs with Thymine and has 2 hydrogen bonds
  2. Cytosine pairs with Guanine and has 3 hydrogen bonds
23
Q

What is RNA

A

A type of nucleic acid that uses information from DNA to synthesise proteins

24
Q

What are the three components of RNA?

A
  1. Ribose - pentose sugar
  2. A,U,G or C base - nitrogenous base
  3. Phosphate group
25
Q

Describe the structure of RNA in three points

A
  1. Contains the pentose sugar ribose
  2. Contains the base uracil
  3. Single stranded molecule made up from one polynucleotide
26
Q

Compare DNA and RNA (4 points)

A
  1. Pentose sugar : DNA = deoxyribose , RNA = ribose
  2. Bases : DNA = A,T,C,G , RNA = A,U,C,G
  3. Size : DNA = long , RNA = short
  4. Number of strands : DNA = 2 , RNA = 1
27
Q

What is the difference between the pentose sugars in DNA and RNA?

A

The pentose sugar in DNA, deoxyribose, has one fewer oxygen atoms than the pentose sugar in RNA, ribose

28
Q

What bond joins the nitrogenous base and the pentose sugar in nucleic acids?

A

Glycosidic

29
Q

What bond joins the phosphate and the pentose sugar in nucleic acids?

A

Phosphodiester

30
Q

What bond joins the nitrogenous bases together in nucleic acids?

A

Hydrogen bonds

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