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Nucleic Acids: How Structure Conveys
Information
1. What Is the Structure of DNA?
2. What Are the Levels of Structure in
Nucleic Acids?
3. What Is the Covalent Structure of
Polynucleotides?
4. Knowing the types & general features of B-
DNA.
5. How Does the Denaturation of DNA
Take Place?
DNA structure
DNA is the largest macromolecule in the cell. In
eukaryotic cells, 99% of the cell DNA is present
in linear form folded on itself several times to
occupy small space within the chromosomes of
the nucleus .
Each chromosome contains single DNA
molecule. Small amounts of DNA (about 1%) are
circular shape present inside the mitochondria.
The DNA can be described as a polymer of
nucleotides (Polynucleotide).That is a long
chain of repeating nucleotide units connected
together strongly (by covalent bonds).
Therefore, nucleotide is the unit of DNA
structure that has complex structure made of
3 different components:
1 .Nitrogen base
2. Pentose sugar
3. Phosphate groups.
Without phosphate groups, the combination of
nitrogen base and sugar is called a nucleoside.
The nitrogen bases are heterocyclic
(combination of carbon and nitrogen atoms)
present in the cell with 5 different types.
Two purines : adenine and guanine
(with 9 atoms of 4 nitrogens and 5 carbons
arranged in two rings) and
Three pyrimidine: Cytosine, Thymine and
Uracil having 6 atoms ring including 2 nitrogens
and 4 carbons
In the nucleotide structure, the pentose sugar
connects to nitrogen base at carbon one from one
direction and to phosphate group at carbon 5 of
the other side
There are 4 different types of
nitrogen bases present in each
nucleic acid. Adenine, Guanine and
cytosine are present in both DNA
and RNA .However only RNA
contains Uracil and only DNA
contains Thymine nitrogen bases.
Also RNA nucleotides have ribose
while DNA has deoxyribose as
pentose sugars.
Fig. 9-1, p.216
The difference is - 2'-OH in ribo and 2'-H in
deoxyribose
helix.
Fig. 9-10, p.224
Fig. 9-11, p.225
Fig. 9-12, p.225
Fig. 9-14a, p.227
Fig. 9-14b, p.227
Fig. 9-15, p.228
Chromatin is comprised of histones and DNA: 147
base pairs of DNA wraps around the 8 core histones
to form the basic chromatin unit, the nucleosome