Nucleic Acids Flashcards
1
Q
What is the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide programmed by?
A
By Genes, a unit of inheritance
2
Q
What are genes made of
A
DNA
3
Q
What does DNA provide
A
Directions for it’s replication
4
Q
What are the two types of nitrogenous bases?
A
Pyrimidine and Purine
5
Q
Pyrimidine
A
a single six-membered ring (Cytosine, Thymine, Uracil)
6
Q
Purine
A
a six-membered ring fused to a five-membered ring (Guanine and Adenine)
7
Q
Nucleotide polymers
A
Nucleotide polymers are linked together to build a polynucleotide
8
Q
How are adjacent nucleotides joined?
A
joined by covalent bonds that form between the –OH group on the 3ʹ carbon of one nucleotide and the phosphate on the 5ʹ carbon on the next
9
Q
The DNA double helix
A
- A DNA molecule has two polynucleotides spiraling around an imaginary axis, forming a double helix
- In the DNA double helix, the two backbones run in opposite 5 → 3 directions from each other, and the arrangement is referred to as antiparallel
10
Q
DNA and proteins as tape measures of
evolution
A
- The linear sequences of nucleotides in DNA molecules are passed from parents to offspring
- Two closely related species are more similar in DNA than are more distantly related species
- Molecular biology can be used to assess evolutionary kinship
