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biology (biological molecules) > structure of DNA and RNA > Flashcards

structure of DNA and RNA Flashcards

1
Q

what is DNA?

A

the hereditary material in human and almost all other organisms

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2
Q

where is DNA located?

A

most in the cell nucleus but some is found in the mitochondria

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3
Q

how is the information in DNA stored?

A

in codes

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4
Q

what are the four chemical bases?

A

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

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5
Q

what bases pair up with each other?

A

A and T
C and G

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6
Q

what are the pairs called?

A

base pairs

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7
Q

each base is also attached to a what and a what?

A

a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule

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8
Q

together, a base, sugar and phosphate are called a what?

A

nucleotide

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9
Q

how are nucleotides arranged?

A

in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix, base pairs form horizontal rungs, the sugar and phosphate molecules form the vertical side pieces

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10
Q

what is an important property of DNA?

A

that it can replicate/make copies of itself

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11
Q

each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases, this is critical when cells divide because…

A

because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell

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12
Q

what three components are nucleotides made up of?

A

-deoxynbase
-phosphate group
-nitogen containing organic base

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13
Q

what is a deoxynbase?

A

a pentose sugar, has 5 carbon atoms

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14
Q

how are nucleotides formed?

A

by a condensation reaction between their three component parts (a mono nucleotide)

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15
Q

what is RNA?

A

contains the sugar ribose (another pentose)

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16
Q

what is DNA made up of?

A

two polynucleotide strand joined together by hydrogen bonds formed between the bases on each nucleotide

17
Q

adenine and thymine always join together using what?

A

two hydrogen bonds

18
Q

cytosine and guanine alway join together using what?

A

three hydrogen bonds

19
Q

what are the two distinct ends of a polypeptide chain?

A

three prime end (3’)
five prime end (5’)

20
Q

each base pair is how long apart?

A

0.34 nm

21
Q

what is a phosphdiester bon?

A

a bond between a sugar group and a phosphate group

22
Q

what is a polypeptide chain?

A

a string of amino acids connected together by peptide bonds

23
Q

what are deoxyribose molecules?

A

a pentose (5 carbon sugar) biological molecule

24
Q

what is a phosphate group?

A

a functional group characterised by a phosphorus atom bonded to four oxygen atoms (three single bonds and one double bond)

25
Q

what is a cistron?

A

a sequence of bases that is the equivalent to one gene

26
Q

what is a locus?

A

on a molecule of DNA each particular gene (cistron) occupies a specific position

27
Q

what are alleles?

A

different forms of the same genes

28
Q

what is RNA?

A

a similar material to DNA, it is made up of a pentose sugar, a phosphate group and one of four bases. the RNA bases are slightly different from DNA which has uracil instead of thymine

29
Q

what is uracil?

A

uracil bonds to adenine in the same way that thymine does in DNA. Unlike DNA, RNA is just single polynucleotide strand

30
Q

what is messenger RNA (mRNA) responsible for?

A

transcription

31
Q

what happens during transcription?
and what happens during the process?

A

the DNA helix splits and unwinds, the process is catalysed by the enzyme RNA polymerase

32
Q

what is a polynucleotide?

A

a combination of nucleotide monomers which are connected to each other through covalent bonds

33
Q

what are introns?

A

non coding regions of the gene that do not contain codons needed to make the final protein AND are found between exons

34
Q

what is splicing?

A

biological process where a newly synthesised pre-mRNA is transformed into a mature mRNA OR in splicing, some sections of RNA transcript (introns) are removed and the remaining sections (exons) are stuck back together

35
Q

what are exons?

A

a sequence of DNA that codes for an amino acid sequence.

36
Q

what is mRNA?

A

a type of RNA molecule that carries the genetic information from DNA to the ribosome, where it is used to make proteins

37
Q

the mature mRNA molecule then exits the nucleus and is transported to a what?

A

ribosome

38
Q

the mRNA then combines with the ribosome, here it directs the the next process in what?

A

polypeptide synthesis translation

biology (biological molecules) (5 decks)

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