Nucleic Acids
Dr. Y kaimila
What are nucleic acids
Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA
Nucleic acid
Ribonucleic acid, RNA
What are the components of DNA
and RNA
• DNA and RNA are polymers of nucleotide
units.
• DNA (RNA) consists of 4 kinds of
ribonucleotide units linked together through
covalent bonds.
• Each nucleotide unit is composed of
– a nitrogenous base
– a pentose sugar
– a phosphate group
Name the bases of Nucleic
Acids
• Purines
– Adenine ( A)
– Guanine ( G)
• Pyrimidines
– Cytosine ( C)
– Uracil (U)
– Thymine (T)
DNA: A,G,C,T
RNA: A,G,C,U
Thymine (T) is a 5-methyluracil (U)
What are Nucleosides?
Nucleosides =ribose/deoxyribose + bases
• The bases are covalently attached to the 1’ position of a pentose sugar ring, to form
a nucleoside
Glycosidic bond
R Ribose or 2’-deoxyribose
How are nucleosides formed ?
Adenosine, guanosine, cytidine, thymidine, uridine
1.4 what is a Nucleotide
• A nucleotide is a nucleoside with one or more phosphate groups bound covalently to the 3’
-, 5’, or ( in ribonucleotides only) the 2’-position. In the case of 5’-position, up to three
phosphates may be attached.
Phosphate ester bonds
Deoxynucleotides Ribonucleotides
(containing deoxyribose) (containing ribose)
BASES NUCLEOSIDES NUCLEOTIDES
Adenine (A) Adenosine Adenosine 5’-triphosphate (ATP)
Deoxyadenosine Deoxyadenosine 5’-triphosphate (dATP)
Guanine (G) Guanosine Guanosine 5’-triphosphate (GTP)
Deoxyguanosine Deoxy-guanosine 5’-triphosphate (dGTP)
Cytosine (C) Cytidine Cytidine 5’-triphosphate (CTP)
Deoxycytidine Deoxy-cytidine 5’-triphosphate (dCTP)
Uracil (U) Uridine Uridine 5’-triphosphate (UTP)
Thymine (T) Thymidine/ Thymidine/deoxythymidie
Deoxythymidie 5’-triphosphate (dTTP)
phosphate
nucleic acid nucleotides pentose
nucleosides
bases
What is the Composition of DNA and
RNA?
Nucleic
base ribose
acid
DNA A 、G、C、T deoxyribose
RNA A 、G、C、U ribose
Name 3 nucleic acid derivatives
Multiple phosphate nucleotides
1. adenosine monophosphate (AMP)
2. adenosine diphosphate (ADP)
3. adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
ATP
ADP
AMP
• 3’,5’-phosphodiester bonds
• Numbered from 5’ which
has the phosphate group
to the 3’ which as the free
hydroxyl group
Repeating sugar-phosphate backbone
The structure of a DNA chain can be
concisely represented
• An even more abbreviated notation for this chain
is
– ApCpGpTpA
– pACGTA
• The base chain is written in the 5’ →3’ direction
The discovery of DNA double helix
• Chargaff's Rule (A=T,
G=C in DNA)
• Franklin, Wilkins:
X-ray Diffraction
Refined Structure
DNA double helix Essential for replicating DNA and
transcribing RNA
• Two separate strands
• Antiparellel (5’→3’
direction)
• Base pairing: hydrogen
bonding that holds two
strands together
• Complementary
(sequence)
• Sugar-phosphate
backbones (negatively
charged): outside
• Base pairs (stack one above
the other): inside
Other conformations of
DNA
Denaturation of DNA
Denaturation of DNA
RNA structure
• RNA molecules are largely single-stranded
but there are double-stranded regions.
Until next time!!!
Read chapter 9 of Campbell