Nucleic Acid Chemistry Flashcards
What are the two types of nucleic acids?
DNA and RNA
What are DNA and RNA made out of?
They are polymers made out of nucleotide monomers
What does DNA stand for?
Deoxyribonucleic acid
What does RNA stand for?
Ribonucleic acid
What is a nucleotide?
Nucleotides form the basic structural unit of nucleic acids
What do nucleotides consist of?
A sugar, a base, and a phosphate group(s). They are covalently bonded to each other.
What are the two types of sugars in nucleotides?
Deoxyribose and ribose
What is the structure of the sugars?
They are five-carbon sugars. Four carbons and oxygen are linked to form a ring structure.
How are the carbons named on the sugar?
1’
2’
3’
4’
5’
(remember which carbon is which)
What is the difference between ribose and deoxyribose?
In the 2’ carbon, ribose contains a hydroxyl group while deoxyribose only has H (no oxygen)
What are the similarities between ribose and deoxyribose?
The 1’ carbon is used to link to a nitrogenous base
The 3’ carbon is important for linking nucleotides together to form nucleic acids
What is a nucleotide containing ribose called?
Ribonucleotide
What is a nucleotide containing deoxyribose called?
Deoxyribonucleotide
What are nitrogenous bases?
hm
How many bases are found in nucleotides?
There are 5 different bases
What are pyrimidines?
A base structure containing one six-sided ring.
I don’t think remembering the atom order is important..,.,. but idk
Cytosine, thymine, and uracil are pyrimidines
What are purines?
A base structure containing two rings.
Adenine and guanine are purines
Which base is only found in DNA?
Thymine
Which base is only found in RNA?
Uracil
How many phosphates groups can nucleotides have?
1-3 phosphate groups
What does MP mean?
Monophosphate; one phosphate group
What does DP mean?
Diphosphate; two phosphate groups
What does TP mean?
Triphosphate; three phosphate groups
How are nucleotides named?
Nucleoside + phosphate name
What is a nucleoside?
A sugar linked to a base
What are the four nucleosides associated with deoxyribose?
Deoxyadenosine (dA)
Deoxyguanosine (dG)
Deoxycytidine (dC)
Deoxythymidine (dT)
What are the four nucleosides associated with ribose?
Adenosine (A)
Guanosine (G)
Cytidine (C)
Uridine (U)
What is the bond the links nucleotides together?
Phosphodiester bonds
How is a phosphodiester bond formed?
A dehydration reaction
Where is the phosphodiester bond formed to link nucleotides?
It is formed between the phosphate group of one nucleotide and the hydroxyl group on the 3’ carbon of another nucleotide.
What is a strand?
A chain of nucleotides linked by phosphodiester bonds
What forms the backbone of a strand?
The linked sugars and phosphate groups form the backbone of a strand
How many strands does DNA have?
Two strands
Double-stranded
How many strands does RNA have?
One strand
Single-stranded
What are the two ends of a strand called?
5’ end
3’ end
What does the 5’ end of a strand contain?
A free phosphate group
What does the 3’ end of a strand contain?
A free hydroxyl group
