Nucleic Acids Flashcards
1
Q
DNA
A
hereditary material
2
Q
DNA molecule is made up of…
A
-Deoxyribose (5 carbon sugar)
-phosphate group
-4 kinds of nitrogenous bases:
adenine
guanine
cytosine
thymine
3
Q
The basic unit of DNA is…
A
a sugar + a phosphate + a base = nucleotide
4
Q
…
A
- since there are 4 bases, there are 4 different kinds of nucleotides
- many nucleotides make up a single DNA molecule
5
Q
DNA is a double helix
A
A+T and G+C
6
Q
Structure
A
A+T = 2 hydrogen bonds G+C = 3 hydrogen bonds
7
Q
DNA
A
contains the information on which all life depends (genetic material)
8
Q
In order to carry out its job, DNA must do the following…
A
- be able to store information that can be passed on from one generation to the next
- be able to make a copy of itself in order to pass its information on
- must be strong and stable so that it does not easily fall apart and cause harmful changes
- it must be able to mutate (alter/change) slightly from time to time. These changes allow a species to evolve.
9
Q
Replication
A
- the ability to copy the coded instructions in the DNA molecule
- DNA separates at the weak bonds to form single strands
- the single strand becomes a template or pattern for a new molecules
- new molecule is built by attaching new subunits to each template strand
- both strands are replicated at the same time
- replication produces 2 identical copies of the cell’s genetic information, each ready to be passed from parent cell to offspring cell during cell division
10
Q
DNA
A
- contains genetic information
- can replicate itself
- can make proteins by making RNA first
11
Q
RNA
A
- ribonucleic acid
- it has ribose instead of deoxyribose sugar
- it has uracil instead of thymine as one of its bases
- is single stranded instead of double stranded
- Adenine pairs with Uracil
- Cytosine pairs with Guanine
12
Q
How is RNA produced?
A
it copies part of the nucleotide sequence of DNA into a complimentary sequence in RNA - this process is called transcription
