DNA Replication and Repair Flashcards
what is a nucleotide
Nucleotides are organic molecules that serve as the monomers, or subunits, of nucleic acids like DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). .
what makes up a nucleotide
a nitrogenous base, a sugar and one or more phosphate groups
describe a nucleotide in DNA
a deoxyribose sugar attached to a single phosphate group
what forms the backbone in DNA
nucleotides are covalently linked (phosphodiester bonds) to form a backbone
what can the base be in DNA
adenine, thymine, guanine or cytosine
the sugar phosphate backbone of DNA is made by what type of bond
a phosphodiester bond
what are two polynucleotide chains held together by
hydrogen bonding between the bases
complementary base-pairing is present in DNA, which base goes with which
adenine goes with thymine and guanine goes with cytosine
two polynucleotide chains making up DNA are said to be anti-parallel, what does this mean?
To make a stable double helix, the two strands of DNA are antiparallel; that is, the 5’ → 3’ direction of one strand runs opposite to the other strand.
