Nucleic Acids and DNA replication

• What are nucleic acids classified as?

  Biopolymers
• What are the individual units of nucleic acids called?

  Nucleotides
• What is the primary function of nucleic acids?

  Carriers of information
• What does DNA stand for?

  Deoxyribonucleic Acid
• What does RNA stand for?

  Ribonucleic Acid
• What are the components of a nucleotide?

  Phosphate group, pentose sugar, nitrogenous base

  
• How many carbon atoms are in pentose sugars?

  5 carbon atoms

  
• What are the two classes of nitrogenous bases?

  Purines and pyrimidines

  
• What type of structures do purines have?

  Double ringed structures

  
• What type of structures do pyrimidines have?

  Single ringed structures
• What type of bond joins the base and sugar in a nucleotide?

  Glycosidic bond

  
• What type of bond joins the phosphate and sugar in a nucleotide?

  Ester bond
• What is required for the formation of a nucleotide?

  Condensation reaction

  
• What is the nomenclature for ADP?

  • ADP: Deoxyadenosine-5' diphosphate

  
• How is a polynucleotide formed?

  -OH group on C3’ interacts with phosphate on C5’
• What are polynucleotides?

  Long chains of nucleotides
• In which direction are nucleic acids synthesized?

  5’ to 3’ direction
• How is the sequence of nucleotides read?

  Starting from the 5’ end

  
• Who were the key scientists involved in DNA structure discovery?

  Franklin, Wilkins, Crick, Watson
• What did Rosalind Franklin contribute to DNA research?

  Images showing sugar backbones on the outside

  
• What did Watson and Crick use without consent?

  Franklin's images of DNA
• What is the structure of DNA?

  Two antiparallel polynucleotides twisted into a double helix

  
• What type of bonds link the two strands of DNA?

  Hydrogen bonds

  
• What stabilizes the DNA double helix?

  Hydrophobic bases hidden inside
• What are the major and minor grooves in DNA?

  Spatial relationships create binding sites

  
• How can DNA strands be separated?

  By breaking hydrogen bonds
• What is the Temperature of Melting (Tm)?

  Temperature at which 50% DNA is single-stranded
• What can cause DNA denaturation?

  Extreme heat or pH changes

  
• What happens during renaturation of DNA?

  Double strands reform under appropriate conditions
• How many chromosomes do humans typically have?

  46 chromosomes
• What role do histone proteins play in DNA packaging?

  Bind to negatively charged DNA
• What is the structure of RNA compared to DNA?

  Single stranded with ribose sugar

  
• What replaces thymine in RNA?

  Uracil

  
• How does RNA differ in reactivity compared to DNA?

  RNA is more chemically reactive
• What is the function of mRNA?

  Transcribes genetic code for protein synthesis
• What is the function of rRNA?

  Translates mRNA into proteins
• What is the function of tRNA?

  Transfers amino acids to ribosomes

  
• What are the differences between DNA and RNA?

  • DNA: Double stranded, deoxyribose, A, T, C, G
  • RNA: Single stranded, ribose, A, U, C, G

  
• What is semi-conservative replication of DNA?

  One parental strand and one new strand

  
• What is the first step in DNA replication?

  DNA unwinds and separates template strands