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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For a non-technical introduction to the topic, see Introduction to genetics. For other uses, see DNA
(disambiguation).
A chromosome unravelling into a long string of DNA, a section of which is highlighted as the gene
Chromosome(107 - 1010 bp)DNAGene(103 - 106 bp )Function
The image above contains clickable linksA chromosome and its packaged long strand of DNA
unraveled. The DNA's base pairs encode genes, which provide functions. A human DNA can have up to
500 million base pairs with thousands of genes.
The structure of the DNA double helix (type B-DNA). The atoms in the structure are colour-coded by
element and the detailed structures of two base pairs are shown in the bottom right.
Simplified diagram
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Deoxyribonucleic acid (pronunciationⓘ[1]; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains
that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the
development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses. DNA
and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are nucleic acids. Alongside proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates
(polysaccharides), nucleic acids are one of the four major types of macromolecules that are essential
for all known forms of life.
The two DNA strands are known as polynucleotides as they are composed of simpler monomeric units
called nucleotides.[2][3] Each nucleotide is composed of one of four nitrogen-containing nucleobases
(cytosine [C], guanine [G], adenine [A] or thymine [T]), a sugar called deoxyribose, and a phosphate
group. The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by covalent bonds (known as the
phosphodiester linkage) between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next,
resulting in an alternating sugar-phosphate backbone. The nitrogenous bases of the two separate
polynucleotide strands are bound together, according to base pairing rules (A with T and C with G),
with hydrogen bonds to make double-stranded DNA. The complementary nitrogenous bases are
divided into two groups, the single-ringed pyrimidines and the double-ringed purines. In DNA, the
pyrimidines are thymine and cytosine; the purines are adenine and guanine.
Both strands of double-stranded DNA store the same biological information. This information is
replicated when the two strands separate. A large part of DNA (more than 98% for humans) is non-
coding, meaning that these sections do not serve as patterns for protein sequences. The two strands
of DNA run in opposite directions to each other and are thus antiparallel. Attached to each sugar is
one of four types of nucleobases (or bases). It is the sequence of these four nucleobases along the
backbone that encodes genetic information. RNA strands are created using DNA strands as a template
in a process called transcription, where DNA bases are exchanged for their corresponding bases
except in the case of thymine (T), for which RNA substitutes uracil (U).[4] Under the genetic code,
these RNA strands specify the sequence of amino acids within proteins in a process called translation.
Within eukaryotic cells, DNA is organized into long structures called chromosomes. Before typical cell
division, these chromosomes are duplicated in the process of DNA replication, providing a complete
set of chromosomes for each daughter cell. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi and protists)
store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus as nuclear DNA, and some in the mitochondria as
mitochondrial DNA or in chloroplasts as chloroplast DNA.[5] In contrast, prokaryotes (bacteria and
archaea) store their DNA only in the cytoplasm, in circular chromosomes. Within eukaryotic
chromosomes, chromatin proteins, such as histones, compact and organize DNA. These compacting
structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the
DNA are transcribed.
Properties
Chemical structure of DNA; hydrogen bonds shown as dotted lines. Each end of the double helix has
an exposed 5' phosphate on one strand and an exposed 3′ hydroxyl group (—OH) on the other.
DNA is a long polymer made from repeating units called nucleotides.[6][7] The structure of DNA is
dynamic along its length, being capable of coiling into tight loops and other shapes.[8] In all species it
is composed of two helical chains, bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. Both chains are coiled
around the same axis, and have the same pitch of 34 ångströms (3.4 nm). The pair of chains have a
radius of 10 Å (1.0 nm).[9] According to another study, when measured in a different solution, the
DNA chain measured 22–26 Å (2.2–2.6 nm) wide, and one nucleotide unit measured 3.3 Å (0.33 nm)
long.[10] The buoyant density of most DNA is 1.7g/cm3.[11]
DNA does not usually exist as a single strand, but instead as a pair of strands that are held tightly
together.[9][12] These two long strands coil around each other, in the shape of a double helix. The
nucleotide contains both a segment of the backbone of the molecule (which holds the chain together)
and a nucleobase (which interacts with the other DNA strand in the helix). A nucleobase linked to a
sugar is called a nucleoside, and a base linked to a sugar and to one or more phosphate groups is
called a nucleotide. A biopolymer comprising multiple linked nucleotides (as in DNA) is called a
polynucleotide.[13]
The backbone of the DNA strand is made from alternating phosphate and sugar groups.[14] The sugar
in DNA is 2-deoxyribose, which is a pentose (five-carbon) sugar. The sugars are joined by phosphate
groups that form phosphodiester bonds between the third and fifth carbon atoms of adjacent sugar
rings. These are known as the 3′-end (three prime end), and 5′-end (five prime end) carbons, the
prime symbol being used to distinguish these carbon atoms from those of the base to which the
deoxyribose forms a glycosidic bond.[12]
Therefore, any DNA strand normally has one end at which there is a phosphate group attached to the
5′ carbon of a ribose (the 5′ phosphoryl) and another end at which there is a free hydroxyl group
attached to the 3′ carbon of a ribose (the 3′ hydroxyl). The orientation of the 3′ and 5′ carbons along
the sugar-phosphate backbone confers directionality (sometimes called polarity) to each DNA strand.
In a nucleic acid