Nucleic Acids

• Nucleic acuds are informational macromolecules that are made up of nucleotides
• nucleic acids store, transmit, and express hereditary information which determines structural and functional characteristics of the organism
• DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid
• RNA = Ribonucleic acid
• Two forms of nucleic acids, DNA and RNA
• Nucleotide contains 3 parts, a nitrogenous base, 5 carbonsugar, and phosphate groups
• there are 5 types of nitrogenous bases, Purines, Pyrimidines, polynucleotides, DNA, and RNA
• Purines are adenine and guanine which are 2 rings of 5C and 4N. Purine has 1 RING.
• Pyrimidines are thymine and cytosine which are 1 ring of 4C and 2N. Pyrimidines have 2 RINGS!
• DNA: C = G, A = T
• RNA: C = G, A = U
• DNA lacks oxygen on carbon 2
• RNA doesnt lack oxygen on carbon 2
• Polynucleotides contain phosphaye group links adjacent nucleotides together.
• Polynucleotide diagram: 5' phosphate end is at the top and it's a small circle. The dark hexagons are nitrogenous base. The grey border surrounding the diagram is the sugar phosphate backbone. and the last hydroxyl on the bottom is the 3' hydroxyl end
• DNA consists of TWO polynucleotides.
• DNA forms double helix, where the strands are antiparallel and are held together by hydrogen bonds between bases
• RNA have single stranded polynucleotide. They have a variety of shapes because of the base pairing within RNA. ADENINE BONDS TO URACIL.
• RNA polymerase uses DNA as a template to produce mRNA (messenger). it leaves with this info out of the nucleus and transports it to protein-building apparatus of cell
• the nucleolus is responsible for the building of ribosomes. ribosomes synthesizes polypeptide chains that will become proteins