DNA - A NUCLEIC ACID Revision The principle biological macro molecules are: LIPIDS CARBOHYDRATES (eg.

starch, glycogen and the simpler sugars, glucose, etc.) PROTEINS NUCLEIC ACIDS The important NUCLEIC ACIDS are: DNA RNA (mRNA & tRNA) molecules,

NUCLEIC ACIDS consist of long chains of nucleotide monomers, each one containing !hich are repeated and repeated and repeated to form the polymers " the #NA or RNA. The components of the nucleotides are:

RIBOSE SUGAR (a pentose, !ith $ carbons) PHOSPHATE %ne of $ possible BASE&, containing NITROGEN

The sugar and the phosphate form a bac'bone, from !hich the nitrogen base groups pro(ect. These molecules are bonded by co)valent electron sharing. *n #NA, the ribose sugar lac's one o+ygen and is called DEOXYRIBOSE sugar. %ther!ise the nucleotides of all nucleic acids contain the same molecules, forming the monomers, the only differences being !hich of the $ N bases is incorporated into each nucleotide. The RNA polymer is a ,simple- heli+ of several hundred, or even thousands, of repeating nucleotide monomers ) riboses, phosphates and bases. *t is a single strand of nucleic acid. The bases can be Adenine (A) and Uracil (U), or Cy !"ine (C) and G#anine (G). The DNA polymer consists of $! helices (double heli+) of nucleic acids, running side by side but in opposite directions (an i-%arallel), and loosely lin'ed through the nitrogen bases in bet!een the . strands. The bases are bonded !ea'ly through hydrogen bonds, but there are so many of these bonded bases that the t!o strands are /uite firmly bonded together. The four bases found in #NA are Adenine (A) !hich only pairs !ith T&y'ine (T), and Cy !"ine (C) !hich only pairs !ith G#anine (G). 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 DNA (!del The %rac ical in)e" i*a i!n is to construct a simple, labelled model of a small molecule of #NA, maybe !ith $ pairs of bases, sho!ing the t!o bac'bone strands of deo+yribose and phosphate, lying opposite each other, and lin'ed together by paired nitrogen bases. All 1 bases found in #NA should be sho!n. The model should be one)dimensional, using coloured and shaped paper, stuc' onto a large sheet, !hich can be displayed on the !all. 2igher 3evel students should in addition sho! the anti)parallell ( 4)5$4 & $4)5 4) structure of the #NA molecule, as !ell as the molecular shape of deo+yribose sugar and its relation to the 6 - " 6$bonding !ith the phosphate group, and the 674 bonding !ith the N bases. They should also sho!: the idea of purines (A & 8) being different from pyrimidines (T & 6) the idea of t!o (A & T) or three (8 & 6) hydrogen bonds bet!een the N bases.