Nucleic Acids – main function

Question 1

Three parts of a nucleotide

Answer 1

Nitrogenous base
Pentose (5 carbon sugar)
Phosphate group

Question 2

What are the five nitrogenous bases? Which are purines? Which are pyrimidines?

Answer 2

Pyrimidines:
Structure: 6-membered ring of carbon and nitrogen.
Members: Cytosine, Thymine, Uracil.

Purines:
Structure: 6-membered ring fused to a pyrimidine ring.
Members: Adenine, Guanine.

Question 3

What are the complementary base pairs in DNA? RNA?

Answer 3

DNA:
Adenine
Guanine
Cytosine
Thymine

RNA:
Adenine
Guanine
Cytosine
Uracil

Question 4

What reaction takes place in the synthesis of nucleic acids? What type of bond is formed?

Answer 4

Condensation reactions take place in the synthesis of nucleic acids. The bonds formed are phosphodiester linkages.

Question 5

Describe the antiparallel nature of a double-stranded DNA molecule.

Answer 5

Antiparallel: Describes two nucleotide strands in DNA running in opposite directions.
This arrangement allows hydrogen bonds to form between complementary base pairs, which wouldn’t be possible if the strands were parallel.

Question 6

What are the two main differences between DNA and RNA?

Answer 6

DNA: Contains Thymine and has Deoxyribose sugar.
RNA: Contains Uracil and has Ribose sugar.

Question 7

Nucleic Acids

Answer 7

Nucleic acids store and transmit genetic information, guiding the development and functioning of living organisms.