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BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
FOURTH EDITION
SCOTT FREEMAN
Lectures by Stephanie Scher Pandolfi
2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Key Concepts
Nucleotides consist of a sugar, phosphate group, and nitrogencontaining base. Ribonucleotides polymerize to form RNA. Deoxyribonucleotides polymerize to form DNA. DNAs primary structure consists of a sequence of nitrogencontaining bases; its secondary structure consists of two DNA strands running in opposite directions, held together by complementary base pairing, and twisted into a double helix. DNAs structure allows organisms to store and replicate the information needed to grow and reproduce.
Key Concepts
RNAs primary structure consists of a sequence of nitrogencontaining bases. Its secondary structure includes short regions of double helices and structures called hairpins. RNA was likely the first self-replicating molecule and a forerunner to the first life-form.
There are two groups of nitrogenous bases: purines (adenine, guanine) pyrimidines (cytosine, uracil, and thymine)
Uracil (U) is found only in ribonucleotides, and thymine (T) is found only in deoxyribonucleotides.
2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Sugars and purines are easily made, but pyrimidines and ribose are not easily synthesized.
Ribose problem: Ribose would have had to have been dominant on ancient Earth for nucleic acids to form.
Types of nucleotides involved: 1. Ribonucleotides, which contain the sugar ribose and form RNA 2. Deoxyribonucleotides, which contain the sugar deoxyribose and form DNA
The bases of RNA typically form hydrogen bonds with complementary bases on the same strand.
The RNA strand folds over, forming a hairpin structure: the bases on one side of the fold align with an antiparallel RNA segment on the other side of the fold.
RNAs Versatility
RNA is structurally, chemically, and functionally intermediate between DNA and proteins.
Like DNA, RNA can function as an information-containing molecule, and is capable of self-replication.
RNA can function as a catalytic molecule. Ribozymes are enzyme-like RNAs.