Nucleic Acids

Question 1

Name the two nucleic acids and 2 similarities they both have

Answer 1

1.Deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid

2.They are long biopolymers, carriers of information

Question 2

What are the monomers of nucleic acids called?

Answer 2

Nucleotides

Question 3

Name three components of a nucleotide

Answer 3

1.Phosphate group
2.Pentose sugar
3.Nitrogenous base

Question 4

Name the 5 bases

Answer 4

Adenine,Thymine (Uracil in DNA),Cytosine,Guanine

Question 5

Name the Purines

Answer 5

Adenine, Guanine

Question 6

Name the Pyrimidines

Answer 6

Cytosine,Thymine (Uracil)

Question 7

What are the pairs of bases that go together?

Answer 7

AT(U) and CG

Question 8

What is a nucleoside?

Answer 8

A base bonded to the C1 of a Pentose sugar

Question 9

What is the difference between a nucleoside and nucleotide?

Answer 9

A nucleotide is a nucleoside with a phosphate group bonded at the -OH of the C5

Question 10

What is the primary structure of nucleic acids due to?

Answer 10

They are due to the order of the nucleotides

Question 11

How is a phosphodiester bond created?

Answer 11

The phosphate group bonds to the C5 -OH to form a backbone leading to a polynucleotide

Question 12

How does DNA link to the numbers 5’ and 3’

Answer 12

The single DNA strand has a phosphate group at C5 -OH and a free -OH at C3

Question 13

Give a random example to how a single strand of DNA is read

Answer 13

E.g. 5-A-G-C-T-3

Question 14

Give two facts about the double helix

Answer 14

1.The two strands of DNA wind around each other

2.The hydrogen bonds between base pairs stabilise the helix

Question 15

How many H bonds does A-T have?

Answer 15

2 Hydrogen bonds

Question 16

How are the two strands of DNA bonded by H bonds complementary?

Answer 16

The strands are anti-parallel as one starts from 5’-3’ and the other starts as 3’-5’

Question 17

What is carried on the template strand?

Answer 17

Genetic information is carried on the template strand while the other is an anti-template strand

Question 18

What charge is the P-S backbone?

Answer 18

The P-S backbone has a negative charge making it hydrophilic and the inside bases are hydrophobic - Increases stability like lipids

Question 19

What other bonds are between bases?

Answer 19

VDW bonds are between bases

Question 20

What are the name of the two grooves that lead to winding in the Double Helix?

Answer 20

1.Major groove

2.Minor groove

Question 21

What are the two grooves in the double helix and what do they do?

Answer 21

1. Major and Minor Grooves

2.Grooves help regulatory proteins bind to specific sites on DNA(transcription, Repression, and silences proteins)

Question 22

How can double strands be separated?

Answer 22

They can be separated by breaking the H bonds via pH or Temperature (>80 degrees)(Phosphodiester bonds unaffected)

Question 23

When is Tm recorded?

Answer 23

Temperature of melting is recorded when 50% of the helix is separated into singles

Question 24

What factors could increase Tm?

Answer 24

The more C-G pairs would increase Tm as C-G has 3 H bonds each meaning more H bonds to break

Question 25

What is the only start Codon?

Answer 25

AUG/ATG is the only start codon

Question 26

How many codons are there and how many are for stop codons?

Answer 26

64 codons In total

61 code for amino acids (multiple codes for some of the 20 AAs)

3 Stop codons

Question 27

Three Differences in RNA To DNA

Answer 27

1. Always single stranded
2. Uracil instead of Thymine
3. Ribose instead of Deoxyribose

Question 28

Name three types of RNA

Answer 28

Messenger RNA (mRNA), Transfer RNA (tRNA), and Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)