Nucleotides

Question 1

What are the strucutres of nucleotides?

Answer 1

Phospather group (carbon 5), Nitrogeneous base (carbon 1), and sugar ring (O on the top)

Question 2

What are the two types of sugar? What is the difference between them?

Answer 2

Ribose, Deoxyribose. Oxygen at 2nd carbon

Question 3

What is important about the phospate groups?

Answer 3

O-P bonds when broken relase a lot of energy (hydrolysis)

Question 4

What are the two types of nitrogeneuous bases? Which ones belong to each actegory? How many aromatic rings per each?

Answer 4

Pyrimidines: Uracil, Tymine, Cytosine ( 1 ring)
Puringes: Guanine, Adenine (2 rings)

Question 5

How does the polymerization of nucleotides occur? What is the direction? What is the name of the bond?

Answer 5

Condensation reaction forms phosphodiester bond (carbon 3’ end and phosphrous group of the next one below). Polymerization occurs always in the 5’ -> 3’ direction

Question 6

How many H-bonds does each pair form in the nitrogeneos bases?

Answer 6

G-C : 3 bonds (more stable)
A-T: 2 bonds

Question 7

What is the orientation of the two strands in DNA? How are the nucleotides oreinted?

Answer 7

Anti parallel. The phospahte groups are outside, adn the bases indide. This protects the genetic info and make the molecule inert

Question 8

Why was RNA the first step in evolution?

Answer 8

It can carry otu instructions as well as store them. Can work as an enzyme and can fold in many strucutres like proteins (due to H-bonds). Stem loop strucutres -> helps with RNA regulation