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A Level Biology > Module 2 Section 3 - Nucleic Acids > Flashcards

Module 2 Section 3 - Nucleic Acids Flashcards

Smithson

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1
Q

nucleotide

A

Monomer of a nucleic acid

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2
Q

What are nucleotides made of?

A

A phosphate group bonded to a pentose sugar (e.g. [deoxy]ribose) which is bonded to a nitrogenous base

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3
Q

Nitrogenous base

A

A molecule that contains nitrogen and has the chemical properties of a base e.g. purines & pyrimidines

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4
Q

What nitrogenous bases are found in DNA?

A
  • Thymine
  • Guanine
  • Cytosine
  • Adenine
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5
Q

What nitrogenous bases are found in RNA?

A
  • Uracil (not thymine)
  • Guanine
  • Cytosine
  • Adenine
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6
Q

two types of bases

A

purine
pyrimidine

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7
Q

purine (+ examples)

A

One of the classifications for the nitrogenous bases, with one carbon-nitrogen hexagonal ring and one pentagonal ring e.g. adenine and guanine

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8
Q

pyrimidine (+ examples)

A

One of the classifications for the nitrogenous bases, with one carbon-nitrogen hexagonal ring e.g. cytosine, thymine and uracil

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9
Q

What type of base has two rings?

A

Purines

The name is shorter than pyrimidine, so is smaller

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10
Q

phosphodiester bond

A

A bond between a phosphate group of one nucleotide and carbon 3 of the sugar (pentose) from another

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11
Q

phosphorylate

A

The process where a phosphate group is added to a molecule e.g. ADP to form ATP

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12
Q

Pi

A

Inorganic phosphate - phosphate ion that is not part of a larger organic molecule

is it a phosphate ion?

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13
Q

What is ADP made of?

A

Adenine base, ribose sugar and two phosphate groups

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14
Q

How many bonds does adenine form?

A

Two (thymine)

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15
Q

How many bonds does cytosine form?

A

Three (not thymine)

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16
Q

Describe the bonds between DNA bases.

A
  • Complementary base pairing - A always bonds to T, C to G
  • Purine always binds to a pyrimidine
  • Weak hydrogen bonds between them (can mention the number between the two pairs)
17
Q

Describe how the two strands in a DNA molecule differ.

A

They are antiparallel and twist around each other - one strand ends with a phosphate group, the other with a hydroxyl group on the sugar

18
Q

structure of RNA

A

single-stranded

19
Q

Compare how DNA and RNA bond.

A

DNA bases bond to another DNA molecule’s bases, whereas RNA’s bases don’t tend to do that - instead RNA folds on itself, so RNA is a shorter molecule.

20
Q

How is ADP formed?

A

The hydrolysis of ATP - this also forms an inorganic phosphate

21
Q

How is ATP formed?

A

ADP is phosphorylated (an inorganic phosphate ion is added) in a condensation reaction where energy is used

22
Q

properties of ATP (5)

solubility, bonds & energy, reactions

A
  • Small
  • Water soluble
  • Bonds between phosphates have a medium amount of energy
  • Releases energy in small amounts
  • Easily regenerated
23
Q

Explain why DNA replication is semi-conservative.

A

The resulting DNA molecule has one of the original strands (which acted as a template) and one new strand

24
Q

What does DNA helicase do?

A

Breaks down hydrogen bonds between the bases, separating the two DNA strands

25
Q

What does DNA polymerase do?

A

Catalyses the condensation reactions that forms phosphodiester bonds between the new nucleotides, joining the nucleotides together on a new DNA strand

26
Q

Where do the nucleotides for DNA replication come from?

A

They are free-floating (non-bonded) nucleotides in the nucleus

27
Q

How do the hydrogen bonds reform in DNA replication?

A

No enzyme is needed because they form themselves automatically

Think about the hydrogen bonds in water

28
Q

Why should DNA replication be accurate?

A

To ensure that genetic information is conserved between replications

29
Q

properties of ATP

A
  • Small
  • Water soluble
  • Bonds between phosphates have a medium amount of energy
  • Releases energy in small amount
  • Easily regenerated
30
Q

Where do energy-requiring processes occur and why?

A

ATP is water soluble – energy-requiring processes happen in aqueous environments (e.g. in the cytoplasm)

31
Q

Why is ATP’s size beneficial?

A

Small – easy to move around & within a cell

32
Q

How are ATP’s bonds beneficial?

A

Bonds between phosphates have a medium amount of energy – big enough to be useful for reactions, but not big enough to be wasted as heat

33
Q

How is the amount of energy released from ATP beneficial?

A

Releases energy in small amounts – energy isn’t wasted, only approx enough for reactions

34
Q

Why is ATP used to release energy for cellular processes and not glucose?

A

Less energy is wasted with ATP than glucose, as energy is released in smaller amounts with ATP

35
Q

How is a lot of the energy released from ATP?

A

When the inorganic phosphate reacts in other ways after having been separated from the ATP molecule

36
Q

Why don’t cells make a large store of ATP then, if using glucose wastes lots of energy? (2)

A
  • ATP is relatively unstable so can’t be stored easily.
  • It doesn’t exist for very long so can’t be transported -> the vast majority of cells must respire so ATP is basically instantly used.
37
Q

DNA’s two functions

A
  • To code for an amino acid sequence
  • To replicate itself and create copies of itself for cell division

A Level Biology (6 decks)

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