nucleic acids

Question 1

purine bases

Answer 1

Adenine, Guanine

Question 2

pyrimidine bases

Answer 2

Cytosine, uracil, thymine

Question 3

are nucleic acids polymers

what are the monomers that make up a nucleic acid?

Answer 3

yes they are

nucleotides

Question 4

components of nucleotides

Answer 4

a base, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate

Question 5

what is the difference between the pentose sugars in RNA and DNA

Answer 5

in DNA, there is no oxygen bonded to carbon 2

Question 6

similarities between nucleosides and nucleotides

difference between nucleosides and nucleotides

Answer 6

they both have nitrogenous bases and pentose sugars

nucleosides have no phosphate groups attached, while nucleotides can have one or more phosphate groups attached

Question 7

what do nucleosides serve as the basic building blocks for

what do nucleotides serve as the basic building blocks for

Answer 7

nucleotides

nucleic acids

Question 8

what are the names of the RNA nucleosides composed of the following nitrogenous bases (try to recall what their nucleotides will be called as well)
Adenine
Guanine
Cytosine
Uracil

Answer 8

Adenosine
Guanosine
Cytidine
Uridine

Question 9

what are the names of the DNA nucleosides composed of the following nitrogenous bases (try to recall what their nucleotides will be called as well)
Adenine
Guanine
Cytosine
thymine

Answer 9

Deoxyadenosine
Deoxyguanosine
Deoxycytidine
Deoxythymidine

Question 10

name of the bond that joins nucleotides to form a nucleic acid

Answer 10

phosphodiester bond

Question 11

which reaction does the formation of a phosphodiester bond involve

briefly describe how a phosphodiester bond forms between nucleotides

Answer 11

The formation of a phosphodiester bond involves a condensation reaction(so water is released)

OH group on C3” in the sugar of the first nucleotide will interact with the phosphate group bound to C5” in the other nucleotide.

Question 11

polynucleotides

Answer 11

long chains of nucleotides

Question 12

what features does a DNA single strand have on it’s 5’ and 3’ ends

Answer 12

a free phosphate on the 5’ end and a free hydroxyl group on the 3’ end

Question 13

how is a single-stranded DNA sequence read?

Answer 13

The sequence is read starting at the 5” end using letters designating the nitrogen bases in the nucleotides(i.e either A, C, G, or T), depending on the order from the 5” end

Question 14

DNA exists as a double helix. what is it that stabilizes the double helix

Answer 14

hydrogen bonding between complementary bases

Question 15

what are two complementary base pairs in DNA?

Answer 15

A-T
C-G

Question 16

which is longer, a purine, or a pyrimidine

Answer 16

purines are longer in terms of the number of atoms and the complexity of their structure compared to pyrimidines.

Question 17

what is meant when we say DNA strands are anti-parallel

Answer 17

In the DNA molecule, there are two complementary strands, and they run in opposite directions, which is what makes them anti-parallel

Question 18

are the phosphate backbones of DNA strands hydrophobic?

Answer 18

no. because the oxygens on the phosphate groups are negatively charged

Question 19

DNA grooves

types

Answer 19

indentations found in the double-helical structure of DNA

major groove(larger)
minor groove(smaller)

Question 20

factors that can cause DNA to denature

Answer 20

extreme pH
high temperatures
base stacking

Question 21

are phosphodiester bonds broken during the denaturing of DNA

Answer 21

no, they are not. denaturation of DNA happens due to the disruption of hydrogen bonds between base pairs

Question 22

Define the Temperature of melting of DNA

Answer 22

The Temperature of Melting (Tm) is defined as the temperature at which 50%of double-stranded DNA is changed to single-standard DNA

Question 23

how many hydrogen bonds are there between the following complementary base pairs;
A-T
C-G

Answer 23

2
3