USC Bridge 2.6 Nucleic Acids
Nucleic acids
Composed of the largest molecules in the body: C,H,O,N and P
nucleic axis polymers are made up of monomers called nucleotides. Composed of nitrogen base, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group
two major classes: deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and robonucleic acid (RNA)
RNA
Links DNA to protein synthesis and is slightly different from DNA
single stranded linear molecule is active mostly outside nucleus
contains a ribose sugar, DNA has a deoxyribose sugar
thymine is replaced with uracil
Complementary bases of DNA:
Adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine
Complementary sequences of DNA
Adenine pairs with thymine
cytosine pairs with guanine
DNA and RNA are:
Nucleic acids
polymers made of subunits called nucleotides
Purines
The nitrogenous bases guanine and adenine each have two linked rings of atoms.
Pyrimidines
Cytosine, thymine and uracil each have a single ring.
The main function of DNA is
Protein production
Which is the base in DNA but not RNA?
Thymine