What are nucleic acids Why are these molecules so important

What are nucleic acids?

Why are these molecules so important to living organisms?

What are the basic structures of DNA and RNA? How are they similar? How are they different?

Solution

1.

Nucleic acids are the biopolymers or the molecules that allow the transfer of genetic material from one generation to another generation.

These large biomolecules are necessary to all known forms of life.

The nucleic acids consists of nucleotides monomers linked together. Nucleotides consists of nitrogenous base, five carbon sugar, phosphate group.

Nucleotides are linked together to form polynucleotide chains.

These are linked by a covalent bond and the linkage is between the phosphate and sugar molecule and the linkage is called the phosphodiester linkage.

They are two types of nucleic acids they are DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid ) and RNA (ribonucleic acid ).

Phosphodiester linkage forms the phosphate sugar backbone of both DNA and RNA.

2. DNA contains the instructions for the performance of all cell functions.

DNA is a genetic material and it is organized into the chromosome and it is found in the nucleus of the cell and it is copied from one generation to another generation.

RNA is essential for synthesis of proteins . The information contained within the genetic code is passed from DNA to RNA and they results in the formation of proteins.

3. DNA is a double helical structure and it consists of purines and pyramidines which are four nitrogen bases like adenine, guanine , cytosine and thymine and phosphate -deoxyribose sugar backbone.

In a double stranded DNA adenine pairs with thymine and guanine pairs with cytosine.

RNA is a single stranded molecule . It consists of phosphate ribose sugar backbone and the nitrogenous bases like adenine ,guanine ,cytosine and uracil.

In RNA strand, adenine pairs with uracil and guanine pairs with cytosine. The nitrogen bases get bonded to each other by hydrogen bonds.

The DNA and RNA are similar in having three nitrogenous bases like adenine, guanine and cytosine and they are also similar in phosphate group.

They are different in nitrogen base like in DNA ,they have thymine as nitrogen base and in RNA , they have uracil. In DNA ,they contain the five carbon sugar as deoxyribose and in RNA , the five carbon sugar as ribose sugar.RNA is single stranded and DNA is double stranded.