2B - Nucleic Acids

Question 1

nucleic acid

Answer 1

The class of a macromolecule that includes DNA and RNA. All nucleic acids are polymers made out of nucleotide monomers.

Question 2

nucleotide

Answer 2

The monomer subunit of nucleic acids. Made up of a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar molecule (ribose in RNA and deoxyribose in DNA), and a phosphate group.

Question 3

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

Answer 3

A double-stranded nucleic acid chain made up of nucleotides. DNA carries the instructions for proteins which are required for cell and organism survival.

Question 4

RNA (ribonucleic acid)

Answer 4

A single-stranded nucleic acid chain made up of nucleotides. Includes mRNA, rRNA, and tRNA.

Question 5

phosphodiester bond

Answer 5

A strong covalent bond linking a five-carbon sugar to a phosphate group.

Question 6

sugar-phosphate backbone

Answer 6

A strong covalently linked chain of five-carbon sugar molecules and phosphate groups in a nucleic acid chain.

Question 7

chromosome

Answer 7

A structure made of protein and nucleic acids that carries genetic information.

Question 8

gene

Answer 8

A section of DNA that carries the code to make a specific protein.

Question 9

genome

Answer 9

The complete set of DNA housed within an organism.

Question 10

antiparallel

Answer 10

A characteristic of DNA strands describing how each strand runs in an opposite direction to the other. One strand runs in a 3’ to 5’ direction and the other runs in a 5’ to 3’ direction.

Question 11

complementary base pairing

Answer 11

Describes which nucleotides can form hydrogen bonds with each.
Adenine pairs with Thymine (Uracil in RNA) and Guanine pairs with Cytosine (At The Giraffe Cage).
Cytosine and Guanine have 3 hydrogen bonds between them, Adenine and Thymine have 2 hydrogen bonds between them (AT2 GC3).

Question 12

double helix

Answer 12

The structure of a double-stranded DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, where each DNA strand wraps around a central axis.

Question 13

nuclear DNA

Answer 13

DNA that is located in the nucleus of a cell.

Question 14

messenger RNA (mRNA)

Answer 14

RNA molecules that are produced during transcription and carry genetic information from the nucleus to the ribosome.

Question 15

transfer RNA (tRNA)

Answer 15

RNA that recognises specific codons on the mRNA strand and adds the corresponding amino acid to the polypeptide chain during protein synthesis.

Question 16

ribosomal RNA (rRNA)

Answer 16

RNA that is a key structural component of ribosomes, which assemble proteins.