Nucleic Acids Flashcards
What are the two types of nucleic acids
DNA and RNA
What are the building blocks of nucleic acids called
Nucleotides
What are the three components covalently bonded in a nucleotide
A phosphate group
A sugar with 5 carbon atoms
Nitrogenous bases
How do the nitrogenous bases differ in DNA and RNA
DNA - A,T,C,G
RNA - A,U,C,G
What types of sugars are found in DNA and RNA
DNA - deoxyribose
RNA - ribose
What covalently bonds nucleotides together
A phosphodiester bond
Where does the phosphodiester bond occur
On the phosphate group on nucleotide and a hydroxyl group of another
What does the high GC (guanine/cytosine) content in DNA do
DNA has the ability to resist being denatured
In DNA, the two polynucleotides run anti-parallel, why does this not apply to RNA
RNA is single-stranded
How does DNA interact with proteins
DNA gets wrapped around proteins called nucleosomes. Genes have linear sequences of nucleotides that coat for proteins through amino acids
