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Undeleted > Nucleic acids > Flashcards

Nucleic acids Flashcards

1
Q

What do RNA and DNA stand for?

A

Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

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2
Q

What is the structure of a nucleotide?

A
  • Pentose sugar
  • Phosphate group
  • A Nitrogen-containing organic base. Which are (C)ytosine, (T)hymine, (U)racil,(A)denine and (G)uanine.
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3
Q

What joins the components of a nucleotide?

A

The phosphate group, pentose sugar and organic base are joined by condensation reactions.

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4
Q

Whats a mononucleotide?

A

Mononucleotide: A single nucleotide.

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5
Q

How do nucleotides bond? And what is formed?

A

Nucleotides bond via their phosphate and pentose sugar groups.

One nuclotides phosphate joins to one nucleotide’s pentose sugar.

Forms a phosphodiester bond and creates a di-nucleotide.

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6
Q

How are polynucleotides formed?

A

Linking of mononucleotides.

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7
Q

What is RNA?

A

A single, short polynucleotide chain.

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8
Q

What are RNA’s organic bases?

A

(A)denine, (G)uanine, (C)ytosine, (U)racil

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9
Q

What is RNA’s pentose sugar it always has?

A

Ribose (hence ribo)

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10
Q

Who discovered DNA?

A

James Watson and Francis Crick.

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11
Q

What are the organic bases of DNA?

A

(A)denine, (T)hymine, (G)uanine, (C)ytosine

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12
Q

What is the pentose sugar of DNA?

A

Deoxyribose is the pentose sugar (hence deoxyribo)

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13
Q

What is DNA?

A

Two long polynucleotide chains, joined by hydrogen bonds on certain bases.

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14
Q

What are always the base pairs in DNA?

A

Adenine-Thymine

Guanine-Cytosine

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15
Q

What rule do base pairs share regarding quantity?

A

Adenine and Thymine are always the same quantity

Guanine and Cytosine are always the same quantity.

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16
Q

What supports the DNA molecules?

A

The double helix.

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17
Q

Why is DNA a stable molecule?

A
  • Phosphodiester bond backbone, protects reactive organic bases between them from external forces.
  • Hydrogen bonds between bases form strength and stability between strands. E.g. 3 hydrogen bonds between C and G.
18
Q

How is DNA adapted for its function?

A
  • Very stable so can easily pass between generations of offspring and rarely mutate.
  • Joined by hydrogen bonds which can seperate during DNA replication and protein synthesis.
  • Deoxyribose-phosphate molecule backbone protects genetic info from external chemicals and forces.
  • Base pairing allows DNA replication and then information transfer as mRNA.
19
Q

How do carbon atoms in the pentose molecule influence how nucleotides are arranged?

A

Carbon atoms in the pentose molecules are (3-prime) and (5-prime) carbon atoms.

3’ has a hydroxyl group

5’ has a phosphate group

So as they bond nucleotides they run down the strands 3-5-3-5

The two strands in DNA run in opposite directions in this way so are called antiparallel

20
Q

Why is DNA replication required?

A

So daughter cells have identical genetic information.

21
Q

What is universally accepted as how DNA replication takes place?

A

Semi-Conservative Replication.

22
Q

What are the requirements for for semi-conservative replication.

A
  • Four types of nucleotide with either A, G, C or T bases present.
  • Both DNA strands so they can act as templates.
  • Enzyme, DNA polymerase
  • Chemical energy source e.g. ATP
23
Q

What is the process for Semi-Conservative replication?

A
  1. DNA helicase breaks hydrogen bonds between two polynucleotides of DNA.
  2. The two strands unwind due to this.
  3. Exposed strands work as a template for external free nucleotides to bind to complimentary bases.
  4. DNA polymerase makes polymer by condensing the new nucleotides together making two new strands.
  5. Each DNA molecule has one original strand, so original DNA is incorperated into both DNA molecules.
  6. Called Semi-conservative replication.
24
Q

What evidence is there against Semi-conservative replication?

A

Conservative model

Suggests original DNA molecule stays intact and seperate daughter DNA was built from deoxyribose, phosphate and organic bases.

25
Q

What evidence is there for Semi-conservative replication?

A

Semi-conservative model.

Original DNA molecule split into two seperate strands which are then replaced by pairs. So two molecules are made each with one new and one old strand of Mononucleotides.

26
Q

What does ATP stand for?

A

Adenosine triphosphate.

27
Q

What is ATP’s structure?

A

Adenine - organic base containing nitrogen

Ribose - A pentose sugar

Phosphates - A chain of three phosphate groups

28
Q

How does ATP store energy?

A
  • Bonds between phosphate groups are unstable so easily broken.
  • When they break they release a considerable amount of energy.
29
Q

How does ATP go to ADP and AMP and vice versa?

A

Water converts ATP to ADP to AMP via hydrolysis with the help of ATP hydrolase.

ATP is reformed with water in condensation and ATP synthase.

30
Q

How are phosphate molecules added to ADP?

A
  • In chlorophyll containing cells in photosynthesis.
  • Cells during respiration.
  • Cells when phosphate molecules are transferred to ADP from donor molecules.
31
Q

Why does ATP work as an immediate energy source for cells?

A
  • Less energy is released from ATP than from glucose but its released more frequently.
  • Breaking down glucose takes longer as its much larger.
    *
32
Q

What processes need energy from ATP and why?

A
  • Metabollic processes, ATP energy to make polymers from monomers.
  • Movement, ATP energy for muscle contraction.
  • Active transport, ATP energy to change carrier protein shape, allowing molecules or ions to move against concentration gradient.
  • Secretion, ATP energy to form cell’s lysosomes
  • Activasion of molecules, ATP’s phosphate molecules can be used to reduce other compounds.
33
Q

What’s the structure of a water molecule?

A

Two hydrogen molecules.

One oxygen molecule.

(H2O)

34
Q

Water is dipolar, explain why.

A

Water has positive and negative poles.

Oxygen has a slightly negative charge.

Hydrogen has a slightly positive charge.

35
Q

Why is water cohesive?

A

Water is cohesive because negative charges attract to positive charges and vice versa.

So the positive pole of one water molecule will be attracted to the negative pole of another and vice versa. These are called hydrogen bonds.

Lots of hydrogen bonds make water cohesive.

36
Q

Water can act as a buffer for sudden temperature change. Explain why?

A

Due to cohesion of hydrogen bonds lots of kinetic energy is required to break up the water molecules.

37
Q

What is the latent heat of vaporisation?

A

The energy required to evaporate one gram of water.

38
Q

What is water used for in metabolism?

A
  • Used for hydrolysis
  • Used for chemical reaction locations
  • Raw material in photosynthesis.
39
Q

What dissolves in water?

A
  • Oxygen and CO2 gases
  • Wastes
  • Inorganic ions and small hydrophillic molecules
  • Enzymes that catalyse in solution
40
Q

Give three examples of benefits to organisms water brings.

A
  • Evaporation cools organisms for temperature control.
  • Not easily compressed so good for hydrostatic skeleton of animals
  • Transparent so aquatic plants can photosynthesize.
41
Q

Give four functions of inorganic ions related to their properties.

A
  • Iron ions in haemoglobin for oxygen transportation.
  • Phosphate ions for DNA.
  • Hydrogen ions to control PH of solutions.
  • Sodium ions for transport of glucose and amino acids across plasma membranes.

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