Nucleic Acids: Structure

These flashcards cover key concepts on nucleic acids, including their structure, function, and the inheritance of genes based on the lecture notes.

What are the heritable traits that Gregor Mendel studied?

Discrete genes expressed in an individual.

What is the difference between dominance and recessivity in inheritance?

Dominance and recessivity are inherited by offspring.

What are genes made of?

DNA.

What is the one gene/one enzyme hypothesis?

Having or lacking an enzyme is a heritable trait.

What does the backbone of nucleic acids consist of?

Constant sugar-phosphate.

What are nucleotides?

The monomers of nucleic acids.

What kind of linkage allows for the formation of nucleotides?

Phosphoester linkage.

What is the significance of the directionality in nucleic acids?

The nucleic acid backbone imparts directionality.

What are the two main classes of nitrogenous bases?

Pyrimidine and purine.

Which bases pair together in DNA and RNA?

Adenine with Thymine (or Uracil in RNA) and Guanine with Cytosine.

What is the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary nucleic acid structure?

Primary structure is covalent and nucleotide sequence; secondary is regular and stable structure taken up by nucleotides; tertiary is complex folding of large structures.

What is the Watson-Crick-Franklin model?

A model based on Franklin's data showing the double-helix structure of DNA.

What is denaturation in the context of DNA?

The melting of the double helix due to pH extremes or high temperatures disrupting hydrogen bonds.

What factors stabilize the melting temperature (TM) of DNA?

Longer strands and higher G-C content stabilize TM more than A-T content.

What are hairpins and cruciforms in DNA structure?

Structures formed from self-complementarity within each strand.

How are complex three-dimensional structures in RNA facilitated?

RNA can base pair with complementary regions and is dominated by base-stacking interactions.

What is gel electrophoresis used for?

To visualize molecular size.

What is the hypochromic and hyperchromic effect?

Hypochromic effect is the decrease of UV light absorption when strands are paired; hyperchromic effect is the increase when denatured.