Nucleic acids

Nucleic acids allow organisms to transfer

genetic information from one generation to
the next.
There are two types of nucleic acids:
Deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA
and Ribonucleic acid, known as RNA.
Nucleic acids- where are they?
 The nucleic acids are found in each and
every cell of the body.
 The DNA is found in the nucleus whereas the
RNA is formed in the nucleus and found in
the cytoplasm.
 The DNA is located only in the nucleus.
Nucleic acids: What do they
do?
 DNA in the nucleus is the control centre of
the cell. All cellular activities are controlled by
DNA.
 The DNA is also responsible for passing the
information from the parents to off springs.
 The RNA is mainly involved in protein
synthesis in a cell.
Structure of DNA
The structure of DNA
molecule is made of:
 Two long chains made of chemical
compounds called nucleotides and is called
the DNA double helix.( also called the
Watson – Crick model)
 They are twisted against each other along a
central axis.
 Each nucleotide is made of a sugar,
phosphate molecule and nitrogenous base.
 It is permanently present in the cell.
Structure of the DNA-
continued
 Each nucleotide of a polynucleotide contains three
parts:
 a. Phosphate group: This has the same structure in
all the nucleotides.
 b. Pentose sugar: This sugar is made of 5 carbon
atoms. Two types occur, ribose and deoxyribose.
Ribose sugar is found in RNA and Deoxyribose
sugar is found in DNA. The difference in the two
sugars is- an oxygen atom is missing at the 2nd
carbon atom of the ribose sugar in DNA. Hence it
gets it s name - Deoxyribose.
Structure of the DNA-
continued
 c.Nitrogenous base: There are five different
bases which are divided into two groups.
 i) Pyrimidines: These are single rings each
with six sides. They are Cytosine, Thymine
and Uracil.
 ii) Purines: These are double rings
comprising a six-sided and a five-sided ring.
They are Adenine and Guanine.
Structure of the DNA-
continued
1. Adenine always pairs with Thymine, with the help
of two hydrogen bonds and Guanine always pairs
with Cytosine with the help of three hydrogen
bonds. This makes the two chains complimentary
to each other.
2. There are 10 basepairs per turn of the helix.
3. The two chains and the nucleotides are nothing
but a ladder like structure that is coiled upon itself.
4. The two chains run in the opposite directions.
Nucleic acids- RNA
 There are three types of RNA in a cell
 They are ribosomal RNA (rRNA), messenger
RNA (mRNA) and transfer RNA ( tRNA).
 Their main function is to make proteins after
taking instructions from the DNA.
 They are temporarily present in the cell.

 There are 20 different tRNAs, for the different

aminoacids.
Structure of Transfer RNA
structure of RNA - continued
 Messenger RNA is a single long chain of
nucleotides
 Ribosomal RNA has two units, one large and
the other small.
Ribosomal RNA
Large subunit
(rRNA)

Small subunit
Nucleic acids

 List the differences between DNA and RNA.

 The answer should be in two columns,
including location, structural and functional
differences.