1.1.1 Meet the molecules

Question 1

What are nucleic acids?

Answer 1

They are nucleotide polymers ( meaning they are long molecules made up of connected bricks called nucleotides .

Question 2

What is a nucleotide?

Answer 2

A relatively simple molecule made up of three components
- sugar
- a phosphate
- nitrogenous base

Question 3

DNA stands for _________

Answer 3

deoxyribonucleic acid

Question 4

RNA stands for _____________

Answer 4

Ribonucleic acid

Question 5

What are the two major groups of nucleic acid?

Answer 5

• RNA
• DNA

Question 6

What are the differences between RNA and DNA ?

Answer 6

• RNA contains a ribose sugar whilst DNA contains a deoxyribose sugar
• RNA contains adenine, guanine, cytosine and uracil , DNA replaces uracil with thymine
• RNA takes a single helix structure, DNA is a double helix

Question 7

What is a protein?

Answer 7

Proteins are polymers like nucleic acids except their building block is an amino acid

Question 8

How many amino acids are there?

Answer 8

There are 20

Question 9

What are the four structural levels of proteins ?

Answer 9

• Primary
• Secondary
• Tertiary
• Quaternary

Question 10

Describe primary structural level of proteins

Answer 10

Primary structure is the most basic level, describes the sequence of amino acids that make up a protein. There are peptide bonds between these amino acids

Question 11

Describe the secondary structural level of proteins

Answer 11

Amino acids start to make some basic folds called alpha helixes and beta pleated sheets

Question 12

Describe the tertiary structural level of proteins

Answer 12

When the protein begins to fold up further in strange ways. This is important in determining what a protein does

Question 13

Describe the quaternary structural level of proteins

Answer 13

Some proteins take on quaternary structure ( not all ) This occurs when more than one protein get together and make a bigger protein

Question 14

How are the structural levels of proteins related?

Answer 14

The order of amino acids ( primary ) determines where in the protein the a helices and b sheets occur ( secondary structure )

Together the primary and secondary determine the way that the protein ends up folding ( tertiary )

Only proteins that have complementary tertiary structures can make a quaternary protein