Concept 5.5: Nucleic acids store, transmit, and help express hereditary information

Flashcards from Concept 5.5 of Pearson's Campbell Biology, Twelfth Edition.

Gene

A unit of inheritance that consists of DNA to program the amino acid sequences of polypeptides

Dioxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

A nucleic acid that comprises genes through monomers called nucleotides and provides directions for its own replication

Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Nucleic acid type that is directed by DNA to control protein synthesis through a process called gene expression

• Single-stranded as opposed to double-stranded DNA

• Has the thymine (T) base replaced by uracil (U)

Polynucleotides

The term for nucleic acids as polymers of monomers called nucleotides

Nucleotides

The monomers of polynucleotides, consisting of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and one or more phosphate groups

Pyrimidines

One of the two families of nitrogenous bases, comprising cytosine (C), thymine (T), and uracil (U)

Purines

One of the two families of nitrogenous basis comprising adenine (A) and guanine (G)

Deoxyribose

The sugar present in DNA

Ribose

The sugar present in RNA

Double helix

The shape of a DNA molecule formed by two polynucleotides in a spiral, running in opposite directions for 5-carbon and 3-carbon sugar strands

Complementary base pairing

The fact that only certain bases pair with each other in DNA, making it possible to generate two identical copies of each DNA molecule in a cell preparing to divide

• Adenine (A) always to thymine (T)

• Guanine (G) always to cytosine (C)