front 1
What are the three components of a nucleotide? | back 1 - The three components are a phosphate group, a five carbon
sugar, and a nitrogenous base.
- The phosphate group is
bonded to the sugar molecule which is then bonded to the
nitrogenous base.
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front 2
Which of these components are found in both RNA and DNA?
Which are found only in DNA or RNA? | back 2 All of them are found in both RNA and DNA, except DNA has a
deoxyribose sugar instead of ribose in RNA. |
| back 3 - When the nucleotides involved in a phosphodiester linkage
contain the sugar ribose, RNA is produced but when they contain
deoxyribose, DNA is produced.
- The additional -OH group
on ribose makes it much more reactive and supports RNA’s catalytic
activity by making it less stable.
- The pyrimidine
base thymine is replaced by uracil in RNA.
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front 4
Secondary structure of RNA | back 4 - The purine and pyrimidine bases in RNA undergo hydrogen bonding
with complementary bases on the same strand
- RNA secondary
structures can form spontaneously because the energy released makes
the whole process favorable
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front 5
Tertiary structure of RNA | back 5 RNA can have a tertiary structure that results when secondary
structures fold into more complex shapes. |
front 6
Describe the secondary structure of DNA. | back 6 - Formed by hydrogen bonding between the nitrogenous bases.
- Antiparallel: the two strands of DNA are side by side and
running in opposite directions
- One strand ran in the
5’ → 3’ direction while the other ran in the 3’ → 5’
direction
- Double helix: formed when the antiparallel
strands are twisted together
- The coiled
sugar-phosphate backbones end up on the outside of the spiral and
the nitrogenous bases on the inside
- Maintained by
hydrogen bonding between complementary bases
- Complementary pairing: for the bases of each backbone to fit in
the interior, they have to form purine-pyrimidine pairs.
- This pairing allows adenine to form two hydrogen bonds with
thymine and guanine forms three hydrogen bonds with cytosine.
- Base pairing: Van der waals interactions between the tightly
stacked bases in the interior further contribute to the stability of
the helix
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front 7
Explain the statement, “DNA functions as an
information-containing molecule." | back 7 -
DNA carries the information required for an
organism’s growth and reproduction in the sequence of
nucleotides.
-
The four nitrogenous bases function like letters in
the alphabet.
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front 8
Can RNA or DNA function as a catalytic molecule? Explain in
the context of molecular and structural properties. | back 8 - Only RNA can function as a catalytic molecule because DNA’s
structure is very stable while RNA’s structure is versatile.
- The -OH group in RNA makes it much less stable than DNA and
also can support its catalytic function.
- RNA has a
tertiary structure therefore RNA molecules with different base
sequences can have very different overall shapes and chemical
properties.
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