Nucleic acids and nucleotides

Question 1

3 components of the nucleotide

Answer 1

1. The base
2. The sugar
3. The phosphate

Question 2

RNA and DNA

Answer 2

Ribonucleotides for RNA and Deoxyribonucleotides for DNA

Question 3

Nucleotides are abbreviated

Answer 3

as nitrogenous bases and are indicated as letters of the code

Question 4

Nucleoside vs nucleotide

Answer 4

both fundamental building blocks in nucleic acids but differ in structure

nucleoside: consists of a nitrogenous base either pyrimidine or purine, and a sugar either ribose found in RNA or deoxyribose found in DNA. Does not contain a phosphate group e.g Adenosine

nucleotide: is a nucleoside with a phosphate group attached to it. it is the basic unit of nucleic acids like DNA or RNA

Question 5

Nucleic acids vs nucleotides

Answer 5

nucleic acids are macromolecules that are long polymers made up of individual monomer units called nucleotides (polynucleotides).

Question 6

Nucleotides are bound together by

Answer 6

Phosphodiester bonds

Question 7

In nature the two main types of nucleic acids are

Answer 7

DNA and RNA

Question 8

Process of replication

Answer 8

DNA carries genetic information that is inherited and passed down through generations through cell division

Question 9

Process of transcription and translation

Answer 9

DNA uses part of its genetic information (genes) which are read (transcribed), by converting the code into RNA and then translating the genetic code (from nucleotides to amino acids) to make important proteins from cells to function

Question 10

Nucleic acids is a genetic blueprint

Answer 10

each gene = word
each nucleotide = letter

Question 11

polynucleotides

Answer 11

nucleic acids exist as polymers

Question 12

Polynucleotides consists of

Answer 12

monomer subunits called nucleotides

Question 13

nucleotides are composed of

Answer 13

1. nitrogenous base
2. pentose (5 carbon sugar)
3. phosphate group

Question 14

nucleoside

Answer 14

molecule composed of nitrogenous base linked to 5-carbon sugar (no phosphate)

Question 15

nucleotide

Answer 15

nucleoside monophosphate

Question 16

base component of nucleotides

Answer 16

nitrogen-containing rings referred to as bases

2 groups:
purines (guanine G, adenine A) and pyrimidines (Cytosine C, Thymine T and Uracil U)

Question 17

Sugar components of nucleotides

Answer 17

5-carbon sugar can be either ribose or deoxyribose

Question 18

phosphate component of nucleotides

Answer 18

nucleotides may have either 1,2 or 3 phosphate groups attached to the 5-carbon (C5 OH) group (=5’) of the ribose or deoxyribose sugar

however, polynucleotides (polymer) in nucleic acids only have one phosphate

The phosphate component is a constant of a nucleotide

is also called a nucleoside monphosphate

Question 19

Nucleotides containing

Answer 19

Ribose (ribonucleotides)
deoxyribose (deoxyribonucleotdes)

Therefore the nucleic acid RNA is made up of ribonucleotides and DNA is made up of deoxyribonucleotides

The sugar component is a constant for the type of nucleic acid

Question 20

Each nucleic acid is named after the base it contains

Answer 20

the base component is a non-constant (they are what varies)

therefore nucleotides are labelled according to the base because the sugar and phosphate component of each nucleotide is a constant

Question 21

nucleotides are abbreviated as capital letters

Answer 21

AMP = adenosine monophosphate
dAMP = deoxyadenosine monophosphate
UDP = uridine diphosphate
ATP = adenosine triphosphate

Question 22

base and nucleoside

Answer 22

adenine -> adenosine A
guanine -> guanosine G
Cytosine -> cytidine C
Uracil -> uridine U
Thymine -> thymidine T

Question 23

nucleic acid polymer chains are

Answer 23

synthesised from energy-rich nucleoside triphosphate (A,C,G, T or U)

Question 24

In these processes of nucleic acid synthesis (DNA or RNA)

Answer 24

these nucleoside triphosphates are added to the growing nucleic acid polymer chain by specific enzymes that can catalyse phosphodiester bonding between adjacent nucleotides and two phosphates are lost resulting in nucleoside monophosphate = nucleotide

Question 25

two main types of nucleic acid

Answer 25

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Question 26

Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Answer 26

1. Ribonucleeotides contain the sugar ribose 2. Ribonucleotides contain 4 types of nitrogenous bases = A, C, G U 3. Single-stranded ( one polymer of polynucleotides)

Question 27

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Answer 27

1. Deoxyribonucleotides contain the sugar deoxyribose 2. Deoxyribonucleotides contain 4 types of bases = A, G, C, T 3. Double-stranded (two polymers bound together)

Question 28

ribonucleotides

Answer 28

OH on carbon 2 1 phosphate always attached to thymine turns into uracil

Question 29

deoxy

Answer 29

O removed from the OH group on Carbon 2 Thymine instead of Uracil

Question 30

5' and 3'

Answer 30

(5 prime and 3 prime) 5 prime indicate the start of the strand as it bonds to the 5 carbon group 3 prime indicates the end of the code as it bonds to the 3 carbon group always read from 5' to 3'

Question 31

nucleotides

Answer 31

(nt)

Question 32

base pairing

Answer 32

only A-T or T-A and G-C or C-G

Question 33

bonding between base pairs

Answer 33

bond type 1 found in all nucleic acids, holds each nucleotide together hold individual nucleotides together in a chain, polymer - phosphodiester bond bond type 2 (hydrogen bond) occur between the base pairs, none in RNA as its single stranded, only in DNA

Question 34

adjacent nucleotides (nt) are joined together by

Answer 34

covalent onds (phosphodiester bonds) results in a backbone with a repeating pattern of sugar-phosphate units

Question 35

phosphodiester bonds occur

Answer 35

between-OH group on the 3C' of one nt and phosphate on the 5C' of the next nt 2 free ends of polymer distinctly different from each other (chemical polarity): one end: phosphate attached to 5C' = 5' end Other end: -OH group attached to 3C' = 3' end

Question 36

RNA molecules

Answer 36

single polynucleotide chain

Question 37

DNA molecules

Answer 37

2 polynucleotide chains that spiral around an imaginary axis forming a double helix

Question 38

2 hydrogen bonds

Answer 38

A=T

Question 39

3 hydrogen bonds

Answer 39

G-=C

Question 40

Thymine T

Answer 40

2,4-dioxo-5-methyl pyrimidine

Question 41

Cytosine C

Answer 41

2-oxo-4-amino pyrimidine

Question 42

Adenine A

Answer 42

6-aminopurine

Question 43

Guanine G

Answer 43

2-amino-6-oxopurine

Question 44

Uracil U

Answer 44

2,4-dioxopyrimidine

Question 45

Pyrimidines

Answer 45

Thymine Cytosine Uracil

Question 46

Purines

Answer 46

Adenine Guanine

Question 47

Purine always bonds

Answer 47

with a pyrimidine between two polymer strands through hydrogen bonds

Question 48

Adenine (purine) forms

Answer 48

2 hydrogen bonds with thymine (pyrimidine)

Question 49

Guanine (purine) forms

Answer 49

three hydrogen bonds with cytosine (pyrimidine)

Question 50

A-T and C-G are known as

Answer 50

base pairs (bp) and bind by complementary base pairing (Chargaffs rule, 1950) Therefore, given the sequence of bases on one strand of the DNA double helix, the sequence of the complimentary strand is fixed and easily determined

Question 51

chargaff's rule

Answer 51

1. the amount of adenine A in DNA is always equal to the amount of Thymine T 2. The amount of Cytosine is always equal to the amount of Guanine

Question 52

DNA requires hydrogen bonding

Answer 52

between nitrogenous bases forming base pairs

Question 53

Watson and Crick 1953

Answer 53

discovered the DNA helix and father of the human genome project (Dr James Watson) became the first human to receive the data encompassing his personal genome sequence at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston on 31st May 2007 Shared the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine, 1962 for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material

Question 54

X-ray crystallography

Answer 54

the last piece of DNA puzzle results: DNA's helical structure was composed of two strands established that DNA's diameter was similar throughout calculated that 1 turn was 34 A, distance between base pairs as 3.4A and 10 nucleotides per helical turn showed that sugar phosphate backbones were located outside of the structure