What chemical process is used to produce nucleic acids?
Nucleic acids are acted upon by nucleases (ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease) of pancreatic and intestinal juices to produce mononucleotides. Nucleotides are hydrolysed to nucleosides by nucleotidases (intestinal phosphatase) Nucleosides are absorbed by intestinal mucosa to portal blood and transported to the liver and supplied through ...
What is the basic chemical unit of a nucleic acid?
Which of the following is the simplest unit of a nucleic acid?
- basic
- unit of nucleic acids. A nucleotide consists of three distinct chemical groups, a 5-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a nitrogen-rich base - (cytosine (C), guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T) ...
- ribonucleic acid (RNA. In this manner, what are the basic unit of a deoxyribose nucleic acid called? ...
What are the 4 types of nucleic acids?
how can proteins recognize specific sequences in double-helix nucleic acids? Specifically, they considered the unique identification of the four possible base pairs A•U(T), U(T)•A, G•C and C•G by protein side chains. Seeman and colleagues correctly ...
What chemical elements are nucleic acids made of?
The Elements of Nucleic acids function as the blueprints for life, able to hold the genetic information that will be translated into proteins. The nucleic acids are made out of five primary elements: phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.
What are the 4 types of nucleic acids?
The most common types of nucleic acids are: deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ribonucleic acid (RNA) messenger RNA (mRNA)
What is nucleic acids chemical formula?
Deoxyadenosine Monophosphate (dAMP): C10H14N5O6P. This chemical formula represents the sum of the purine base adenine (C5H5N5), deoxyribose(C5H10O4), and phosphoric acid (H3PO4), where condensation reactions at the molecule bond sites lose two water molecules (2H20). This is the DNA form.
What is nucleic acid and its function?
Nucleic Acids Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that play essential roles in all cells and viruses. A major function of nucleic acids involves the storage and expression of genomic information. Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, encodes the information cells need to make proteins.
What is a nucleic acid made of?
A nucleic acid is a long molecule made up of smaller molecules called nucleotides. Nucleic acids were discovered in 1868, when twenty-four-year-old Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher isolated a new compound from the nuclei of white blood cells.
What are nucleic acids 12 chemistry?
Nucleic acids are the polymers in which nucleotides are monomers. These are biomolecules present in nuclei of all living cells in the form of nucleoproteins . They are also called as polynucleotides .
Why nucleic acids are called acids?
RNA (Ribonucleic acid) is referred to as nucleic acid due to the acidic nature of its phosphate group. The phosphodiester bond is prone to lose its proton easily in the nucleophile group, hence masks the basic nature contributed by the nitrogenous bases.
What are two main function of nucleic acid?
Two main functions of nucleic acids are: (i) DNA is responsible for the transmission of inherent characters from one generation to the next. This process of transmission is called heredity. (ii) Nucleic acids (both DNA and RNA) are responsible for protein synthesis in a cell.
What is nucleic acid and examples?
Nucleic acids are macromolecules that store genetic information and enable protein production. Nucleic acids include DNA and RNA. These molecules are composed of long strands of nucleotides. Nucleotides are composed of a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar, and a phosphate group.
Where are nucleic acids?
Although first discovered within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, nucleic acids are now known to be found in all life forms including within bacteria, archaea, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and viruses (There is debate as to whether viruses are living or non-living).
What are nucleic acids?
Nucleic acids are naturally occurring chemical compounds that serve as the primary information-carrying molecules in cells. They play an especially...
What is the basic structure of a nucleic acid?
Nucleic acids are long chainlike molecules composed of a series of nearly identical building blocks called nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of...
What nitrogen-containing bases occur in nucleic acids?
Each nucleic acid contains four of five possible nitrogen-containing bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), thymine (T), and uracil (U). A...
When were nucleic acids discovered?
Nucleic acids were discovered in 1869 by Swiss biochemist Friedrich Miescher.
What is a nucleic acid?
Ans. A nucleic acid is a long-chain polymer made of monomeric units called nucleotides. A nucleotide, in turn, consists of three primary components. These are a phosphate group, a sugar molecule bonded to the phosphate group and a cyclic nitrogenous base.
What are the elements in nucleic acids?
Nucleic Acids Structure. These vital macromolecules are typically made of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus and most importantly, carbon. They are long-chain polymers that consist of monomeric units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide comprises a phosphate group, a 5-carbon sugar and a specific nitrogen base. Image will be uploaded soon.
What are the macromolecules that store, encode, and transmit genetic information from one generation to another?
Ans. Nucleic acids can be defined as large macromolecules that store, encode and transmit genetic information from one generation to another. These vital macromolecules are typically made of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus and most importantly, carbon. They are long-chain polymers that consist of monomeric units called nucleotides.
What is the source of all genetic information in living organisms?
These are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). DNA is the primary genetic material that is the source of all genetic information in living organisms. From the smallest unicellular bacteria to multicellular animals such as elephants and human beings, each of these contains DNA in their cells.
Where is uracil found?
Note that uracil is found only in RNA while, thymine is present only in DNA. Through a combination of several processes that include protein synthesis using amino acids, the sequences of these nucleobases allow nucleic acids like DNA to store and encode the body's genetic information.
What is the DNA code?
The loss of nucleic acids, or DNA in cells, can be the cause for mutation and a variety of other diseases. DNA is a vital part of the fingerprinting method employed by forensic experts.
What are the bases found in DNA?
β-D-2-deoxyribose is the sugar molecule present in DNA molecules. The cyclic nitrogen bases found in DNA are adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine.
What are the components of a nucleic acid?
Each nucleotide consists of three components: a purine or pyrimidine nucleobase (sometimes termed nitrogenous base or simply base ), a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group which makes the molecule acidic.
Where are nucleic acids found?
Although first discovered within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, nucleic acids are now known to be found in all life forms including within bacteria, archaea, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and viruses (There is debate as to whether viruses are living or non-living ).
What is the substructure of a nucleobase?
The substructure consisting of a nucleobase plus sugar is termed a nucleoside. Nucleic acid types differ in the structure of the sugar in their nucleotides–DNA contains 2'- deoxyribose while RNA contains ribose (where the only difference is the presence of a hydroxyl group ).
What is the role of nucleic acid sequence in protein synthesis?
The encoded information is contained and conveyed via the nucleic acid sequence, which provides the 'ladder-step' ordering of nucleotides within the molecules of RNA and DNA. They play an especially important role in directing protein synthesis.
How is the sequence of amino acids in a protein read?
The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA in a process called transcription.
What are the two main classes of nucleic acids?
The two main classes of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). If the sugar is ribose, the polymer is RNA; if the sugar is the ribose derivative deoxyribose, the polymer is DNA. Nucleic acids are naturally occurring chemical compounds that serve as the primary information-carrying molecules in cells and makeup ...
How does DNA differ from RNA?
One DNA or RNA molecule differs from another primarily in the sequence of nucleotides. Nucleotide sequences are of great importance in biology since they carry the ultimate instructions that encode all biological molecules, molecular assemblies, subcellular and cellular structures, organs, and organisms, and directly enable cognition, memory, and behavior ( see Genetics ). Enormous efforts have gone into the development of experimental methods to determine the nucleotide sequence of biological DNA and RNA molecules, and today hundreds of millions of nucleotides are sequenced daily at genome centers and smaller laboratories worldwide. In addition to maintaining the GenBank nucleic acid sequence database, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) provides analysis and retrieval resources for the data in GenBank and other biological data made available through the NCBI web site.
What is a nucleic acid?
Typically, a nucleic acid is a large molecule made up of a string, or “polymer,” of units called “ nucleotides .”. All life on Earth uses nucleic acids as their medium for recording hereditary information – that is nucleic acids are the hard drives containing the essential blueprint or “source code” for making cells.
Why are scientists using nucleic acids?
In fact, scientists are using these molecules to build the basis of an “artificial life form”, which could maintain the artificial nucleic acid and extract information from it to build new proteins and survive. Generally speaking, nucleic acids themselves differ in every organism based on the sequence of nucleotides within the nucleic acid.
How do nucleic acids differ?
Generally speaking, nucleic acids themselves differ in every organism based on the sequence of nucleotides within the nucleic acid. This sequence is “read” by cellular machinery to connect amino acids in the correct sequence, building complex protein molecules with specific functions.
How do nucleic acids store information?
Nucleic Acids Store Information Like Computer Code. By far the most important function of nucleic acids for living things is their role as carriers of information. Because nucleic acids can be created with four “bases,” and because “base pairing rules” allow information to be “copied” by using one strand of nucleic acids as a template ...
What is the name of the chain of nucleotides that stores genetic information?
A nucleic acid is a chain of nucleotides which stores genetic information in biological systems. It creates DNA and RNA, which store the information needed by cells to create proteins. This information is stored in multiple sets of three nucleotides, known as codons.
Why is DNA important to a cell?
Because the DNA source code is just as vital to a cell as your operating system is to your computer, DNA must be protected from potential damage. To transport DNA’s instructions to other parts of the cell, copies of its information are made using another type of nucleic acid – RNA. It’s these RNA copies of genetic information which are sent out ...
What type of nucleic acid is used to carry instructions from generation to generation?
Later experiments revealed that another type of nucleic acid – RNA, or ribonucleic acid – acted as a “ messenger ” that could carry copies of the instructions found in DNA. Ribonucleic acid was also used to pass down instructions from generation to generation by some viruses.
What is the function of nucleic acid?
One of the two main types of nucleic acid (the other being DNA), which functions in cellular protein synthesis in all living cells. Like DNA, it consists of strands of repeating nucleotides joined in chainlike fashion, but the strands are single and it has the nucleotide uracil (U) where DNA has
What is the RNA molecule produced by RNA transcription?
Before the synthesis of a protein begins, the corresponding RNA molecule is produced by RNA transcription. One strand of the DNA double helix is used as a template by the RNA polymerase to synthesize a messenger RNA
What is the genome?
the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA.
What is the process of creating an equivalent RNA copy of a sequence of DNA in double helix?
Transcription is the process of creating an equivalent RNA copy of a sequence of DNA in double helix. Both RNA and DNA have base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language that can be converted back and forth from DNA to RNA in the presence of the correct enzymes, RNA polymerase. During transcription , a DNA sequence is read by RNA polymerase, which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand. As opposed to DNA replication, transcription results in an RNA complement that includes uracil (U) in all instances where thymine (T) would have occurred in
What enzymes are able to catalyze specific cleavage or joining reactions?
RNA enzymes, or ribozymes, are able to catalyze specific cleavage or joining reactions either in themselves or in other molecules of nucleic acid. See Catalysis, Ribozyme
What is the function of mRNA?
Specifically, mRNA sequence is recognized in a sequential fashion as a series of nucleotide triplets by tRNAs via base pairing to the three-nucleotide anticodons in the tRNAs. There are specific triplet codons that specify the beginning and end of the protein-coding sequence. Thus, the function of mRNA involves the reading of its primary nucleotide sequence, rather than the activity of its overall structure. Messenger RNAs are typically shorter-lived than the more stable structural RNAs, such as tRNA and rRNA. See Genetic code
What is the ribosome bind to?
The ribosome binds to the mRNA at the start codon (AUG) that is recognized only by the initiator tRNA. The ribosome proceeds to the elongation phase of protein synthesis. During this stage, complexes, composed of an amino acid linked to tRNA, sequentially bind to the appropriate codon in mRNA by forming complementary base pairs with the tRNA anticodon. The ribosome moves from codon to codon along the mRNA. Amino acids are added one by one, translated into polypeptidic sequences dictated by DNA and represented by mRNA. At the end, a release factor binds to the stop codon, terminating translation and releasing the complete polypeptide from the ribosome.
What is the name of the sugar component in nucleic acids?
Analogous nucleic acids in which the sugar component is ribose are termed ribonucleic acids, abbreviated RNA. The acidic character of the nucleic acids was attributed to the phosphoric acid moiety. The two monocyclic bases shown here are classified as pyrimidines, and the two bicyclic bases are purines.
Where is DNA found in a cell?
The high molecular weight nucleic acid, DNA, is found chiefly in the nuclei of complex cells, known as eucaryotic cells, or in the nucleoid regions of procaryotic cells, such as bacteria. It is often associated with proteins that help to pack it in a usable fashion.
What happens to a peptide after it is synthesized?
Once a peptide or protein has been synthesized and released from the ribosome it often undergoes further chemical transformation. This post-translational modification may involve the attachment of other moieties such as acyl groups, alkyl groups, phosphates, sulfates, lipids and carbohydrates. Functional changes such as dehydration, amidation, hydrolysis and oxidation (e.g. disulfide bond formation) are also common. In this manner the limited array of twenty amino acids designated by the codons may be expanded in a variety of ways to enable proper functioning of the resulting protein. Since these post-translational reactions are generally catalyzed by enzymes, it may be said: " Virtually every molecule in a cell is made by the ribosome or by enzymes made by the ribosome. "#N#Modifications, like phosphorylation and citrullination, are part of common mechanisms for controlling the behavior of a protein. As shown on the left below, citrullination is the post-translational modification of the amino acid arginine into the amino acid citrulline. Arginine is positively charged at a neutral pH, whereas citrulline is uncharged, so this change increases the hydrophobicity of a protein. Phosphorylation of serine, threonine or tyrosine residues renders them more hydrophilic, but such changes are usually transient, serving to regulate the biological activity of the protein. Other important functional changes include iodination of tyrosine residues in the peptide thyroglobulin by action of the enzyme thyroperoxidase. The monoiodotyrosine and diiodotyrosine formed in this manner are then linked to form the thyroid hormones T 3 and T 4, shown on the right below.
What percentage of the DNA in a bacterial cell is genetically transformed?
In a second critical study, Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase showed that when a bacterium is infected and genetically transformed by a virus, at least 80% of the viral DNA enters the bacterial cell and at least 80% of the viral protein remains outside. Together with the Chargaff findings this work established DNA as the repository of the unique genetic characteristics of an organism.
How does DNA transfer information to RNA?
Francis Crick proposed that information flows from DNA to RNA in a process called transcription, and is then used to synthesize polypeptides by a process called translation. Transcription takes place in a manner similar to DNA replication. A characteristic sequence of nucleotides marks the beginning of a gene on the DNA strand, and this region binds to a promoter protein that initiates RNA synthesis. The double stranded structure unwinds at the promoter site., and one of the strands serves as a template for RNA formation, as depicted in the following diagram. The RNA molecule thus formed is single stranded, and serves to carry information from DNA to the protein synthesis machinery called ribosomes. These RNA molecules are therefore called messenger -RNA (mRNA).#N#To summarize: a gene is a stretch of DNA that contains a pattern for the amino acid sequence of a protein. In order to actually make this protein, the relevant DNA segment is first copied into messenger-RNA. The cell then synthesizes the protein, using the mRNA as a template.
What are the different types of RNA?
The size of rRNA molecules varies, but is generally less than a thousandth the size of DNA. The other forms of RNA are messenger RNA , mRNA, and transfer RNA , tRNA.
How many chromosomes are in a fruit fly?
The nuclei of multicellular organisms incorporate chromosomes, which are composed of DNA combined with nuclear proteins called histones. The fruit fly has 8 chromosomes, humans have 46 and dogs 78 (note that the amount of DNA in a cell's nucleus does not correlate with the number of chromosomes).
What are the functions of nucleic acids?
The Functions of Nucleic Acids 1 Nucleic acids are responsible for the transmission of inherent characters from parent to offspring. 2 They are responsible for the synthesis of protein in our body 3 DNA fingerprinting is a method used by forensic experts to determine paternity. It is also used for the identification of criminals. It has also played a major role in studies regarding biological evolution and genetics.
What is DNA made of?
Chemically, DNA is composed of a pentose sugar, phosphoric acid and some cyclic bases containing nitrogen. The sugar moiety present in DNA molecules is β-D-2-deoxyribose. The cyclic bases that have nitrogen in them are adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T). These bases and their arrangement in the molecules ...
What are the bases in RNA?
RNA has β-D-ribose in it as the sugar moiety. The heterocyclic bases present in RNA are adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and uracil (U). In RNA the fourth base is different from that of DNA.
What is the fourth base of RNA?
In RNA the fourth base is different from that of DNA. The RNA generally consists of a single strand which sometimes folds back; that results in a double helix structure. There are three types of RNA molecules, each having a specific function: messenger RNA (m-RNA) ribosomal RNA (r-RNA) transfer RNA (t-RNA)
Why is DNA important?
These bases and their arrangement in the molecules of DNA play an important role in the storage of information from one generation to the next one. DNA has a double-strand helical structure in which the strands are complementary to each other.
What is the purpose of DNA fingerprinting?
DNA fingerprinting is a method used by forensic experts to determine paternity. It is also used for the identification of criminals. It has also played a major role in studies regarding biological evolution and genetics.
Nucleic Acids Structure
- These vital macromolecules are typically made of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus, and most importantly, carbon. They are long-chain polymers that consist of monomeric units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide comprises a phosphate group, a 5-carbon sugar, and a specific nitrogen base. (Image will be uploaded soon) In a nucleotide, if the sug...
Pop Quiz 1
- Which of these is a sugar group present in DNA?
- Ribose
- Thymine
- Deoxyribose
Nucleic Acids Types
- As we mentioned earlier, there are two major types of nucleic acids commonly found in living organisms. These are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). DNA is the primary genetic material that is the source of all genetic information in living organisms. From the smallest unicellular bacteria to multicellular animals such as elephants and human beings, each …
DNA Nucleic Acid
- In combination with histone proteins, DNA forms a chemical complexcalled chromatin in the cells of eukaryotic organisms.
- This, however, does not occur in prokaryotes.
- Each chromosome of a living organism is a repository of thousands of hundreds of genes, dictating the organism’s identity, behavior, habit, and other functions.
- In combination with histone proteins, DNA forms a chemical complexcalled chromatin in the cells of eukaryotic organisms.
- This, however, does not occur in prokaryotes.
- Each chromosome of a living organism is a repository of thousands of hundreds of genes, dictating the organism’s identity, behavior, habit, and other functions.
- Most genes contain the information that can code for protein products in the body. Some of these can also code for RNA products.
Structure of DNA
- DNA consists of a double helix backbone made of two chains of polynucleotides.
- This double helix consists of two DNA strands, running parallel to each other.
- There exist hydrogen bonds between the helices, while the bases are contained in bundles within the helix.
- DNA is negatively charged, owing to the presence of phosphate groups.
Structure of RNA
- RNA, in eukaryotic cells, mostly participates in the synthesis of proteins and translation and transcription of genetic code. During transcription and protein synthesis, DNA molecules use an intermediate messenger RNA, also called mRNA to communicate with the entire cellular machinery, without leaving its place of origin. There are several other types of RNA that participa…
Nucleic Acids Function
- The DNA never leaves its place of origin but uses the RNA to act as an intermediate to communicate with the rest of the cell.
- This intermediate mRNA enters the nucleus of the cell during the synthesis of proteins, and bonds with one of the DNA strands.
- The sequence of nitrogen bases in DNA is oppositeNucleic acids, mainly DNA and RNA, play …
- The DNA never leaves its place of origin but uses the RNA to act as an intermediate to communicate with the rest of the cell.
- This intermediate mRNA enters the nucleus of the cell during the synthesis of proteins, and bonds with one of the DNA strands.
- The sequence of nitrogen bases in DNA is oppositeNucleic acids, mainly DNA and RNA, play an essential role in the bodies of living organisms. The functions performed by these are as follows:
- Nucleic acids help synthesize proteins in the body.
Molecular Biology
- Molecular biology is the study of biological and chemical changes in and between cells. The field of molecular biology is very much focused on the nucleic acids and other macro and micro molecules that affect life processes. The living things on earth are also made up of complex chemicals just how the non-living things are. The molecular biologist works on figuring out how …
Biochemistry
- Biochemistry is the study of chemicals in organisms. It focuses more on the molecules and nucleic acid rather than the proteins. Additionally, biochemistry also involves the study of chemicals when present in large quantities.
Genetics
- Genetics is all about the study of heredity, the genes’ structure, and how it changes in the species. To understand the hereditary traits, it has to be studied on a large scale, almost on the population level, thus making it a larger scale field than molecular biology.
Overview
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main classes of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). If the sugar is ribose, the polymer is RNA; if the sugar is th…
External links
• Interview with Aaron Klug, Nobel Laureate for structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic-acid protein complexes provided by the Vega Science Trust.
• Nucleic Acids Research journal
• Nucleic Acids Book (free online book on the chemistry and biology of nucleic acids)
History
• Nucleic acid was first discovered by Friedrich Miescher in 1869 at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He gave its first name as nuclein.
• In the early 1880s Albrecht Kossel further purified the substance and discovered its highly acidic properties. He later also identified the nucleobases.
Occurrence and nomenclature
The term nucleic acid is the overall name for DNA and RNA, members of a family of biopolymers, and is synonymous with polynucleotide. Nucleic acids were named for their initial discovery within the nucleus, and for the presence of phosphate groups (related to phosphoric acid). Although first discovered within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, nucleic acids are now known to be found in all life forms including within bacteria, archaea, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and viruses (There is debate a…
Molecular composition and size
Nucleic acids are generally very large molecules. Indeed, DNA molecules are probably the largest individual molecules known. Well-studied biological nucleic acid molecules range in size from 21 nucleotides (small interfering RNA) to large chromosomes (human chromosome 1 is a single molecule that contains 247 million base pairs ).
In most cases, naturally occurring DNA molecules are double-stranded and RNA molecules are si…
Topology
Double-stranded nucleic acids are made up of complementary sequences, in which extensive Watson-Crick base pairing results in a highly repeated and quite uniform Nucleic acid double-helical three-dimensional structure. In contrast, single-stranded RNA and DNA molecules are not constrained to a regular double helix, and can adopt highly complex three-dimensional structures that are based on short stretches of intramolecular base-paired sequences including both Wats…
Sequences
One DNA or RNA molecule differs from another primarily in the sequence of nucleotides. Nucleotide sequences are of great importance in biology since they carry the ultimate instructions that encode all biological molecules, molecular assemblies, subcellular and cellular structures, organs, and organisms, and directly enable cognition, memory, and behavior. Enormous efforts have gone into the development of experimental methods to determine the nucleotide sequenc…
Types
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid containing the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. The DNA segments carrying this genetic information are called genes. Likewise, other DNA sequences have structural purposes or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information. Along with RNA and proteins, DNA is one of the three major macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life. DNA consi…