in a nucleic acid polymer, the bonds that help to hold double-stranded regions together occur between what parts of the nucleotide monomers?
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get in a nucleic acid polymer, the bonds that help to hold double-stranded regions together occur between what parts of the nucleotide monomers? from EN Bilgi.
Nucleic Acids
Types of RNA
RNA is the nucleic acid that makes proteins from the code provided by DNA through the processes of transcription and translation.
Learning Objectives
Describe the structure and function of RNA
Key Takeaways
Key Points
Key Terms
RNA Structure and Function
The two main types of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). DNA is the genetic material found in all living organisms and is found in the nucleus of eukaryotes and in the chloroplasts and mitochondria. In prokaryotes, the DNA is not enclosed in a membranous envelope.
The other type of nucleic acid, RNA, is mostly involved in protein synthesis. Just like in DNA, RNA is made of monomers called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is made up of three components: a nitrogenous base, a pentose (five-carbon) sugar called ribose, and a phosphate group. Each nitrogenous base in a nucleotide is attached to a sugar molecule, which is attached to one or more phosphate groups.
RNA Structure: A nucleotide is made up of three components: a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and one or more phosphate groups. Carbon residues in the pentose are numbered 1′ through 5′ (the prime distinguishes these residues from those in the base, which are numbered without using a prime notation). The base is attached to the 1′ position of the ribose, and the phosphate is attached to the 5′ position. When a polynucleotide is formed, the 5′ phosphate of the incoming nucleotide attaches to the 3′ hydroxyl group at the end of the growing chain. Two types of pentose are found in nucleotides, deoxyribose (found in DNA) and ribose (found in RNA). Deoxyribose is similar in structure to ribose, but it has an H instead of an OH at the 2′ position. Bases can be divided into two categories: purines and pyrimidines. Purines have a double ring structure, and pyrimidines have a single ring.
In RNA, the nitrogenous bases vary slightly from those of DNA. Adenine (A), guanine (G), and cytosine (C) are present, but instead of thymine (T), a pyrimidine called uracil (U) pairs with adenine. RNA is a single stranded molecule, compared to the double helix of DNA.
The DNA molecules never leave the nucleus but instead use an intermediary to communicate with the rest of the cell. This intermediary is the messenger RNA (mRNA). When proteins need to be made, the mRNA enters the nucleus and attaches itself to one of the DNA strands. Being complementary, the sequence of nitrogen bases of the RNA is opposite that of the DNA. This is called transcription. For example, if the DNA strand reads TCCAAGTC, then the mRNA strand would read AGGUUCAG. The mRNA then carries the code out of the nucleus to organelles called ribosomes for the assembly of proteins.
Once the mRNA has reached the ribosomes, they do not read the instructions directly. Instead, another type of RNA called transfer RNA (tRNA) needs to translate the information from the mRNA into a usable form. The tRNA attaches to the mRNA, but with the opposite base pairings. It then reads the sequence in sets of three bases called codons. Each possible three letter arrangement of A,C,U,G (e.g., AAA, AAU, GGC, etc) is a specific instruction, and the correspondence of these instructions and the amino acids is known as the “genetic code.” Though exceptions to or variations on the code exist, the standard genetic code holds true in most organisms.
The ribosome acts like a giant clamp, holding all of the players in position, and facilitating both the pairing of bases between the messenger and transfer RNAs, and the chemical bonding between the amino acids. The ribosome has special subunits known as ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) because they function in the ribosome. These subunits do not carry instructions for making a specific proteins (i.e., they are not messenger RNAs) but instead are an integral part of the ribosome machinery that is used to make proteins from mRNAs. The making of proteins by reading instructions in mRNA is generally known as ” translation.”
Source : courses.lumenlearning.com
Nucleic acids (article)
DNA and RNA structure and function. Nucleotides and polynucleotides. mRNA, rRNA, tRNA, miRNA, and siRNA.
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DNA and RNA structure
Nucleic acids
Introduction
Roles of DNA and RNA in cells
DNA in cells
From DNA to RNA to proteins
Nucleotides
Nitrogenous bases
Sugars
Phosphate
Polynucleotide chains
Properties of DNA
Properties of RNA
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA)
Regulatory RNA (miRNAs and siRNAs)
Summary: Features of DNA and RNA
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9.1 The Structure of DNA – Concepts of Biology – 1st Canadian Edition
9.1 The Structure of DNA
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
The phosphate group of one nucleotide bonds covalently with the sugar molecule of the next nucleotide, and so on, forming a long polymer of nucleotide monomers. The sugar–phosphate groups line up in a “backbone” for each single strand of DNA, and the nucleotide bases stick out from this backbone. The carbon atoms of the five-carbon sugar are numbered clockwise from the oxygen as 1′, 2′, 3′, 4′, and 5′ (1′ is read as “one prime”). The phosphate group is attached to the 5′ carbon of one nucleotide and the 3′ carbon of the next nucleotide. In its natural state, each DNA molecule is actually composed of two single strands held together along their length with hydrogen bonds between the bases.
Watson and Crick proposed that the DNA is made up of two strands that are twisted around each other to form a right-handed helix, called a double helix. Base-pairing takes place between a purine and pyrimidine: namely, A pairs with T, and G pairs with C. In other words, adenine and thymine are complementary base pairs, and cytosine and guanine are also complementary base pairs. This is the basis for Chargaff’s rule; because of their complementarity, there is as much adenine as thymine in a DNA molecule and as much guanine as cytosine. Adenine and thymine are connected by two hydrogen bonds, and cytosine and guanine are connected by three hydrogen bonds. The two strands are anti-parallel in nature; that is, one strand will have the 3′ carbon of the sugar in the “upward” position, whereas the other strand will have the 5′ carbon in the upward position. The diameter of the DNA double helix is uniform throughout because a purine (two rings) always pairs with a pyrimidine (one ring) and their combined lengths are always equal. (Figure 9.4).
The Structure of RNA
RNA nucleotides contain the nitrogenous bases adenine, cytosine, and guanine. However, they do not contain thymine, which is instead replaced by uracil, symbolized by a “U.” RNA exists as a single-stranded molecule rather than a double-stranded helix. Molecular biologists have named several kinds of RNA on the basis of their function. These include messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA)—molecules that are involved in the production of proteins from the DNA code.
How DNA Is Arranged in the Cell
DNA is a working molecule; it must be replicated when a cell is ready to divide, and it must be “read” to produce the molecules, such as proteins, to carry out the functions of the cell. For this reason, the DNA is protected and packaged in very specific ways. In addition, DNA molecules can be very long. Stretched end-to-end, the DNA molecules in a single human cell would come to a length of about 2 meters. Thus, the DNA for a cell must be packaged in a very ordered way to fit and function within a structure (the cell) that is not visible to the naked eye. The chromosomes of prokaryotes are much simpler than those of eukaryotes in many of their features (Figure 9.6). Most prokaryotes contain a single, circular chromosome that is found in an area in the cytoplasm called the nucleoid.
Eukaryotes, whose chromosomes each consist of a linear DNA molecule, employ a different type of packing strategy to fit their DNA inside the nucleus. At the most basic level, DNA is wrapped around proteins known as histones to form structures called nucleosomes. The DNA is wrapped tightly around the histone core. This nucleosome is linked to the next one by a short strand of DNA that is free of histones. This is also known as the “beads on a string” structure; the nucleosomes are the “beads” and the short lengths of DNA between them are the “string.” The nucleosomes, with their DNA coiled around them, stack compactly onto each other to form a 30-nm–wide fiber. This fiber is further coiled into a thicker and more compact structure. At the metaphase stage of mitosis, when the chromosomes are lined up in the center of the cell, the chromosomes are at their most compacted. They are approximately 700 nm in width, and are found in association with scaffold proteins.
In interphase, the phase of the cell cycle between mitoses at which the chromosomes are decondensed, eukaryotic chromosomes have two distinct regions that can be distinguished by staining. There is a tightly packaged region that stains darkly, and a less dense region. The darkly staining regions usually contain genes that are not active, and are found in the regions of the centromere and telomeres. The lightly staining regions usually contain genes that are active, with DNA packaged around nucleosomes but not further compacted.
Concept in Action
Section Summary
The model of the double-helix structure of DNA was proposed by Watson and Crick. The DNA molecule is a polymer of nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar (deoxyribose), and a phosphate group. There are four nitrogenous bases in DNA, two purines (adenine and guanine) and two pyrimidines (cytosine and thymine). A DNA molecule is composed of two strands. Each strand is composed of nucleotides bonded together covalently between the phosphate group of one and the deoxyribose sugar of the next. From this backbone extend the bases. The bases of one strand bond to the bases of the second strand with hydrogen bonds. Adenine always bonds with thymine, and cytosine always bonds with guanine. The bonding causes the two strands to spiral around each other in a shape called a double helix. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a second nucleic acid found in cells. RNA is a single-stranded polymer of nucleotides. It also differs from DNA in that it contains the sugar ribose, rather than deoxyribose, and the nucleotide uracil rather than thymine. Various RNA molecules function in the process of forming proteins from the genetic code in DNA.
Prokaryotes contain a single, double-stranded circular chromosome. Eukaryotes contain double-stranded linear DNA molecules packaged into chromosomes. The DNA helix is wrapped around proteins to form nucleosomes. The protein coils are further coiled, and during mitosis and meiosis, the chromosomes become even more greatly coiled to facilitate their movement. Chromosomes have two distinct regions which can be distinguished by staining, reflecting different degrees of packaging and determined by whether the DNA in a region is being expressed (euchromatin) or not (heterochromatin).
Glossary
deoxyribose: a five-carbon sugar molecule with a hydrogen atom rather than a hydroxyl group in the 2′ position; the sugar component of DNA nucleotides
double helix: the molecular shape of DNA in which two strands of nucleotides wind around each other in a spiral shape
nitrogenous base: a nitrogen-containing molecule that acts as a base; often referring to one of the purine or pyrimidine components of nucleic acids
phosphate group: a molecular group consisting of a central phosphorus atom bound to four oxygen atoms
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