nucleic acids

  • formed from polymerizing nucleotides

  • their monomers are nucleotides

  • first isolated from the nuclei of white blood cells by Fredrich Miescher

  • came from ‘nuclein’

  • to describe a weak acidic substance

  • its structure is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen

each nucleotide has three components

  • a phosphoric acid molecule phosphate

  • a five carbon sugar molecule, pentose

  • molecule of a nitrogen containing base

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

  • contains genetic instructions used in the development and

    functioning of all living organisms

job or role

  • medium of long term storage and transmission of genetic info

unique features

  • its helix geometry is in b-form

  • completely protected by the body

  • the body destroys enzymes that cleave DNA

  • can be damaged by exposure to ultraviolet rays

predominant structures

  • double stranded molecule with a long chain or nucleotides

bases and sugars

  • deoxyribose sugar, phosphate backbone

  • adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine

pairing of bases

  • A-T (adenine-thymine) G-C (guanine-cytosine)

stability

  • deoxyribose sugar in DNA is less reactive because of C-H bonds

  • stable in alkaline conditions

  • has smaller grooves, which makes it harder for enzymes to attack DNA

propagation

  • DNA is self-replicating

RNA (ribonucleic acid)

  • single stranded chain of alternating phosphate and ribose units

    with the bases … adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil

    bonded to the ribose

job or role

  • transfers the genetic code needed for the creation of proteins

    from the nucleus to the ribosome

unique features

  • its helix geometry of RNA is in a-form

  • continually made, broken down, and reused

predominant structure

  • single stranded molecule and has a shorter chain of nucleotides

bases and sugars

  • ribose sugar, phosphate sugar

  • adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil

pairing of bases

  • A-U (adenine-uracil) G-C (guanine-cytosine)

stability

  • ribose sugar is more reactive because of C-OH (hydroxyl bonds)

  • not stable in alkaline conditions

  • RNA has larger grooves which makes it easier to be attacked by enzymes

propagation

  • RNA is synthesized from DNA when needed