Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids

• What is the basic unit that forms nucleic acids?

  Nucleotide
• How do nucleotides join together to form a polynucleotide?

  By condensation reactions
• What type of bond forms between the phosphate group and the pentose sugar?

  Phosphodiester bond
• What is released when phosphodiester bonds are broken?

  Individual nucleotides
• What are the two ends of a DNA strand called?

  Phosphate and hydroxyl group
• How do the strands of DNA run in relation to each other?

  Antiparallel
• What are the two types of nitrogenous bases in nucleotides?

  Purines and pyrimidines
• Which bases are classified as purines?

  Adenine and guanine
• Which bases are classified as pyrimidines?

  Thymine and cytosine
• What is the structure of RNA compared to DNA?

  RNA is single-stranded
• What sugar is found in RNA?

  Ribose
• What base does RNA have instead of thymine?

  Uracil
• What are the main features that differentiate DNA from RNA?

  • DNA:
  • Double-stranded
  • Contains thymine
  • Deoxyribose sugar
  • Located in the nucleus
  • RNA:
  • Single-stranded
  • Contains uracil
  • Ribose sugar
  • Located in nucleus, cytoplasm, ribosome
• Where is DNA primarily located in the cell?

  Nucleus
• Where is RNA primarily located in the cell?

  Nucleus, cytoplasm, ribosome
• What is the length of RNA compared to DNA?

  Varies in length
• What is mRNA's length in relation to genes?

  Length of a gene