structure of DNA and RNA

Question 1

what does DNA stand for?

Answer 1

deoxyribonucleic acid

Question 2

whats the function of DNA?

Answer 2

to carry genetic material

Question 3

what does DNA need to be able to do?

Answer 3

• encode information
• be a stable structure
• be copied accurately

Question 4

describe the structure of DNA

Answer 4

DNA is composed of lots of DNA nucleotides joined together by phosphodiester bonds (condensation reactions) to form a polynucleotide

Question 5

what is DNA comprised of?

Answer 5

a phosphate group, a deoxyribose sugar and a nitrogenous base

Question 6

what are the four different nitrogenous bases?

Answer 6

Adenine
Thymine
Guanine
Cytosine

Question 7

what are the complementary nucleotide bases?

Answer 7

Adenine + Thymine
Guanine + Cytosine

Question 8

describe DNA strands

Answer 8

in DNA many nucleotides join together to form a polynucleotide. the base pairings A-T and G-C are described as complementary to each other. DNA is made up of two strands of polynucleotides, they run antiparallel to each other. each strand is held together by hydrogen bonds between the bases, 3 between G-C and 2 between A-T

Question 9

describe the structures of DNA that allow it to be copied accurately

Answer 9

• complementary bases held by weak hydrogen bonds, so they can be broken easily to separate the strands during DNA replication
• DNA is double stranded, so both strands can act as a template during DNA replication
• complementary base pairs, so strands can be faithfully copied + produce identical DNA molecules in DNA replication

Question 10

describe the structures of DNA that allow it to encode information

Answer 10

• a long molecule, so it can store lots of genetic information
• ** a helix and tightly coiled**, so its compact
• the base sequence, codes for amino acids

Question 11

describe the structures of DNA that allow stability

Answer 11

• many hydrogen bonds, so it is a stable structure
• bases in the middle of the double helix, so they are protected by the sugar phosphate backbone

Question 12

what is RNA compromised of?

Answer 12

lots of nucleotides (RNA) joined together by phosphodiester bonds formed in condensation reactions to form a polynucleotide

Question 13

whats the differences between DNA and RNA?

Answer 13

• RNA is single stranded whereas DNA is double stranded
• RNA has ribose sugar whereas DNA has deoxyribose sugar
• RNA has uracil instead of thymine

Question 14

what are the three types of RNA?

Answer 14

• mRNA
• tRNA
• rRNA