nucleic acids Flashcards
what is added to the 5’ end of the 5-sugar molecule
phosphate group
what is added to the 3’ end of a 5-sugar molecule?
a covalent phophodiester bond between the phosphate group of another nucleotide
what will a nucleotide be added to on a nucleic acid for the 2 nucleic acids to be combined?
the O in the phosphate group
why would molecules connected by a G-C be more stable/less likely to break off into 2 strands than a A-T bond?
Because they have 3 hydrogen bonds between them, opposed to only 2 between A-T
what is the bond between the O in one nucleotide’s pento-sugar molecule and the phosphate group of another nucleotide called?
covalent phosphodiester bond
what are the bonds between nucleotides called?
covalent bonds
how is DNA structured?
as an anti-parallel; double helix with each strand running in opposite 5’ and 3’ orientation
what are the purine nitrogenous bases?
adenine and guamine
what are the pyrimidine nitrogenous bases in DNA?
cystonine and thymine
what are the pyrimidine nitrogenous bases in RNA?
cystonine and uracil
what is the central dogma?
DNA–>RNA—>Proteins—>Life
what type of helix is RNA
a single helix
what is the biggest job of DNA & RNA?
making proteins in the cells; these instructions for the proteins are in the DNA and it gets to the protein as the info from DNA is shuttled out by RNA
what are nucleotides made up of?
phosphate group, pento-sugar, and a nitrogenous base
what is attached to the 1’ end of a nucleotide group’s pento-sugar?
nitrogenous base
what are the bonds within a phosphate group?
3 single bonds and 1 double bond with oxygen (remember darkened single bond with covalent phosphodiester bond)
is DNA or RNA more stable?
DNA because of hydrogen bonds between nitrogen bases of the nucleotides that will make the molecule more stable.
differences between RNA & DNA:
- ribose sugar in RNA while deoxyribose sugar in DNA
- DNA double stranded and anti-parallel in directionality
- DNA in nucleus while RNA can be found anywhere where needed in the body
what are nucleotides?
monomers for nucleic acids
what atoms are essential in the formation of nucleotides?
N, O, H, C, and P
what is the importance of the central dogma theory?
the fact that any change in the molecular structure of the monomer(nucleotide), will change the molecular structure and thus the genetic message encoded in the polymer, which will result in DNA or RNA mutation which can alter the protein product with different function in a living system than that which was intended
