Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids

These flashcards cover essential concepts related to nucleotides and nucleic acids, including their structure, types, bonds, and functions.

What are nucleic acids?

Macromolecules that make up the genetic information for all known forms of life, including RNA and DNA.

What are the two types of nucleotides?

Ribonucleic acids (RNA) and Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA).

What is a nucleotide composed of?

An organic base, a sugar, and a phosphate.

What are the five nitrogenous bases?

Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine (only in DNA), and Uracil (only in RNA).

What are the two types of sugars in nucleotides?

Ribose and Deoxyribose.

What is the difference in sugars between DNA and RNA?

DNA contains deoxyribose sugar while RNA contains ribose sugar.

What bond is formed when a sugar and a base are joined?

N-glycoside bond.

What type of bond is formed when a phosphate is joined to a sugar?

Phosphoester bond.

What is a nucleoside?

A nucleoside is a sugar connected to a nitrogenous base without phosphate.

How do you name ribonucleosides and deoxyribonucleosides?

Ribonucleosides have no prefix; deoxyribonucleosides use the prefix 'deoxy-'.

What is the reading direction of nucleotide sequences?

Nucleotide sequences are read from the 5’ terminus to the 3’ terminus.

What kind of bond links nucleotides together in nucleic acids?

3’,5’-phosphodiester bonds.

What do we call the immediate source of energy in biological processes?

Hydrolysis of phosphoanhydride bonds.

What is the significance of hydrogen bonding between nitrogenous bases?

It determines base pairing in DNA and RNA.