Nucleic acids - RNA Flashcards
What is RNA ?
a polymer of repeating mononucleotide sub units made up of :
ribose pentose sugar
one of the organic bases (GCAU)
a phosphate group
What is uracil ?
takes the place of thymine in rna
uracil and thymine have a similar structure
it is a pyramidine base
forms a complementary base with adenine, forming 2 hydrogen bonds
what is mrna ?
single polynucleotide formed in the nucleus during transcription, using a gene as a template
carries a copy of the genetic information of the gene to the ribosome in the cytoplasm
groups of 3 adjacent bases are called codons
used in translation to determine the primary structue of protiens
trna ?
carries an amino acid to a ribosome - each of the different types of rna has a structure that allows it to transfer just one specific amino acid
at one end of the molecule, there is a triplet of bases called an anticodon with a base sequence complementary to one of the mrna codon
at the other end of the trna molecule, thee is an attachmet site for the amino acid specified by the mrna codon
anticodon is cmplementary to the mrna codon
what is rRNA ?
made by the nucleolus
combined with a protien to form a ribosome
rRNA + protien = ribosome
what are the base pairing rules ?
adenine to uracil = 2 hydrogen bonds
guanine to cytosene = 3 hydrogen bonds
when intramoleculer (rna +rna) or intermolecular (rna+ dna) occurs, uracil forms hydrogen bonds with adenine
