Unit 3 – Structure and

Function of Cells

Nucleic Acids

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Nucleic acids store and transmit hereditary
information
Genes
Are the units of inheritance
Program the amino acid sequence of
polypeptides
Are made up of nucleic acids

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Nucleic Acids

There are two types of nucleic acids

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

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DNA
Stores information for the synthesis of specific
proteins
Directs RNA synthesis
Directs protein synthesis through RNA
Exists as double stranded structure in the form of
the double helix in cells and has long life span

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 DNA

1 Synthesis of
mRNA in the nucleus mRNA

NUCLEUS
CYTOPLASM

mRNA
2 Movement of
mRNA into cytoplasm Ribosome
via nuclear pore

3 Synthesis
of protein

Amino
Polypeptide acids

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The Structure of Nucleic Acids
Nucleic acids
Exist as polymers called polynucleotides
5’ end

5’C O

3’C

5’C O
3’C
3’ end
OH
(a) Polynucleotide,
or nucleic acid
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Polynucleotides
Consists of monomers called nucleotides

Nucleoside

Nitrogenous
base

O 5’C

O P O CH2
O
O
Phosphate
3’C
group Pentose
sugar

(b) Nucleotide

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Nucleotides
Are made up of nucleosides and phosphate groups
The phosphate group carries a negative charge resulting the
nucleic acids DNA and RNA to be negatively charged
The nucleosides are made up of nitrogenous bases and
pentose sugars
There are 2 types of pentose sugars – deoxyribose (in DNA)
and ribose (in RNA)
Nitrogenous bases contain nitrogen and act as bases by
picking up hydrogen ions
The bases can be categorized into 2 groups – purines and
pyrimidines
Purines consist of adenine (A) and Guanine (G) while
pyrimidines consist of cytosine (C), thymine (T) and uracil
(U)
There are 4 types of bases in DNA and RNA
In DNA, the type of bases are – A, G, T and C
In RNA, the type of bases are – A, G, C and U
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Nucleotide Monomers

Nitrogenous bases
Pyrimidines
Pyrimidines
NH2 O O
C C CH 3
C
N CH HN C HN CH
C CH C CH C CH
CH
O N O N O N
H H H
Cytosine Thymine (in DNA) Uracil (inRNA)
Uracil (in RNA)
C T UU

Purines
NH2 O
N C N C
C N C NH
HC HC
N C CH N C
N N NH2
H H
Adenine Guanine
A G

Pentose sugars
5” 5”
HOCH2 OH HOCH2 OH
O O
4’ H H 1’ 4’ H H 1’

H H H H
3’ 2’ 3’ 2’
OH H OH OH
Deoxyribose (in DNA) Ribose
Ribose (in
(in RNA)
RNA)

(c) Nucleoside components

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Nucleotide Polymers/Polynucleotides
Are made up of nucleotides linked by the–OH group on the
3´ carbon of one nucleotide and the phosphate on the 5´
carbon on the next nucleotide through condensation
reactions resulting in the formation of 5´ 3´ phosphodiester
linkages
5’ end

5’C O

3’C

5’C O
3’C
3’ end
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5 end

O
OH
P Hydrogen bond
–
O 3 end
O
OH
O
T A

O O CH2
O
P
–
O O
O O–
P
H 2C O
O O
G C

O O CH2
O
P
–
O O
O–
O
P
H2C O
O O
C G

O O CH2
O
P O
–
O O–
O P
H2 C O
O O
A T

O CH2
OH
3 end O
O–
P
O
O
(b) Partial chemical structure
5 end

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 G C
A T
T A

1 nm

G C
3.4 nm
C G
A T
C G

T A

T A
A T

A T

G C
0.34 nm
A T
(a) Key features of DNA structure (c) Space-filling model

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The sequence of bases/nucleotides
along a nucleotide polymer
Is unique for each gene
Determines the sequence of amino acids
for a polypeptide chain

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The DNA Double Helix
Cellular DNA molecules
Have two polynucleotides that spiral around an imaginary axis
Form a double helix held together by hydrogen bonding
The nitrogenous bases in DNA
Form hydrogen bonds in a complementary fashion (A with T
only, and C with G only)
Between A and T, there are 2 hydrogen bonds while between
G and C, there are 3 hydrogen bonds
Each turn of the double helix contains 10 pairs of bases held
together by hydrogen bonds

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The DNA double helix
Consists of two antiparallel nucleotide
strands 5’ end 3’ end

Sugar-phosphate
backbone
Base pair (joined by
hydrogen bonding)
Old strands

Nucleotide
about to be
added to a
3’ new strand
A
end

5’ end

3’ end New
strands

5’ end 3’ end

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RNA
Generally single stranded
Has short life span
There are 3 main types of RNA:
1. mRNA (messenger RNA) – transcribes the
genetic information from DNA
2. rRNA (ribosomal RNA) – combines with proteins
to form ribosomes
3. tRNA (transfer RNA) – transfers amino acids to
the growing polypeptide chains attached to
ribosomes to aid in translation process

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DNA and Proteins as Tape
Measures of Evolution
Molecular comparisons
Help biologists sort out the evolutionary
connections among species

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