Nucleic Acids
Definition
Nucleic acids are macromolecules
made up of smaller nucleotide subunits.
They carry genetic information, form
specific structures in a cell or carry out
specific roles in a cell.
Found in all living things and viruses.*
The two most common are
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and
ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Nucleotides
Nucleotides consist of a phosphate group, a pentose (5C sugar) a
nitrogenous base.
If the nitrogenous base is a double ring structure, it is said to be a purine.
If the nitrogenous base is a single ring structure it is said to be a pyrimidine.
Nucleic Acid Strands
Nucleotides bond together through
dehydration synthesis between
hydroxyl groups on the phosphate
group of one nucleotide and the
sugar on the next nucleotide to
create a phosphodiester bond
DNA
Used primarily for the carrying of hereditary information and the recipe for
making proteins.
DNA contains four different nucleotides that differ only in their nitrogenous
base:
Adenine and Guanine are purines and
Cytosine and Thymine are pyrimidines
DNA
In DNA nucleotides the pentose sugar is deoxyribose (-H instead of -OH at
C2).
DNA Structure
The shape of DNA is a double helix,
where two nucleotide strands run
anti-parallel to each other.
It looks like a twisted ladder where the
sugar and phosphate groups make up
the sides and the nitrogenous bases
make up the rungs
The nucleotides are held together by two types of bonds:
Phosphodiester bonds link the sides of the double helix (from condensation
reactions).
The nitrogenous bases are held together across a rung by hydrogen bonds
Complementary Base Pairing
Adenine always binds with
Thymine since they are both able
to make 2 hydrogen bonds
Cytosine always bonds with
Guanine since they are both able to
make 3 hydrogen bonds.
As a result, each rung contains one
purine and one pyrimidine, which
keeps DNA a consistent size (about
2 nm)
RNA
Unlike DNA, RNA is single stranded and
generally much shorter in length.
RNA uses nucleotides Adenine, Cytosine
and Guanine, but instead of Thymine, it
uses another pyrimidine, Uracil.
The pentose in RNA nucleotides is ribose
(OH group at C2).
There are three main types of RNA.
They all play important roles in protein
synthesis
1) mRNA
Messenger RNA decodes the DNA code (“protein recipe”) and takes it from
the nucleus to the ribosome
2) tRNA
Transfer RNA brings amino acids to
the ribosome to be incorporated into
the newly forming polypeptide chain.
3) rRNA
Ribosomal RNA is what makes up the
ribosomes, where proteins are made
in the cell.