BIOCHEMISTRY

Structure and function of

DNA
 Student Learning Outcomes
 13.5.1 define the tem nucleic acids
 13.5.2 describe the importance of
nucleic acids
 Describe the basic structural features of
DNA and RNA
 Nucleic Acids
 Ncleic acids are essential components of
every living cell.
 There are two types of nucleic acids
 Deoxyribonuleic Acid (DNA)
 Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)

 Nucleic acids are long chain polymers

made up of monomeric units called
nucleotides.
 Nucleic acids
 Principle information molecule in the
cell.

 All the genetic codes are carried out on

the nucleic acids.

 Nucleic acid is a linear polymer of

nucleotides
 Nucleotides
 Nucleotides are the unit structure of
nucleic acids.
 Nucleotides composed of 3
components:
 Nitrogenous base (A, C, G, T or U)
 Pentose sugar
 Phosphate
 Nitrogenous bases
 There are 2 types:
 Purines:
 Two ring structure
 Adenine (A) and Guanine (G)

 Pyrimidines:
 Single ring structure
 Cytosine (C) and Thymine (T) or Uracil (U).
Nucleotide bases
 Types of Nucleic acids
There are 2 types of nucleic acids:
1. Deoxy-ribonucleic acid (DNA)
 Pentose Sugar is deoxyribose (no OH at 2’ position)
 Bases are Purines (A, G) and Pyrimidine (C, T).
2. Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
 Pentose Sugar is Ribose.
 Bases are Purines (A, G) and Pyrimidines (C, U).
 Linear Polymerization of Nucleotides
 Nucleic acids are
formed of nucleotide
polymers.
 Nucleotides polymerize
together by phospho-
diester bonds via
condensation reaction.
 The phospho-diester
bond is formed
between:
 Hydroxyl (OH) group
of the sugar of one
nucleotide.
 Phosphate group of
other nucleotide
N.B.
 The polymerization of nucleotides to form
nucleic acids occur by condensation
reaction by making phospho-diester bond
between 5’ phosphate group of one
nucleotide and 3’ hydroxyl group of another
nucleotide.

 Polynucleotide chains are always

synthesized in the 5’ to 3’ direction, with a
free nucleotide being added to the 3’ OH
group of a growing chain.
 Polymerization of Nucleotides
 Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides.
 The nucleotides formed of purine or
pyrimedine bases linked to phosphorylated
sugars (nucleotide back bone).
 The bases are linked to the pentose sugar to
form Nucleoside.
 The nucleotides contain one phosphate
group linked to the 5’ carbon of the
nucleoside.
Nucleotide = Nucleoside + Phosphate group
 Gene Expression
 Genes are DNA sequences that encode
proteins (the gene product)

 Gene expression refers to the process

whereby the information contained in genes
begins to have effects in the cell.

 DNA encodes and transmits the genetic

information passed down from parents to
offspring.
 Complementary base pairing
 It is the most important structural feature of
nucleic acids
 It connects bases of one polynucleotide
chain (nucleotide polymer) with
complementary bases of other chain
 Complementary bases are bonded together
via:
 Double hydrogen bond between A and T (DNA), A
and U (RNA) (A═T or A═U)
 Triple H-bond between G and C in both DNA or
RNA (G≡C)
Base pairing
 Significance of complementary
base pairing
 The importance of such complementary base
pairing is that each strand of DNA can act as
template to direct the synthesis of other
strand similar to its complementary one.

 Thus nucleic acids are uniquely capable of

directing their own self replication.

 The information carried by DNA and RNA

direct the synthesis of specific proteins
which control most cellular activities.
 DNA structure
 DNA is a double stranded molecule consists of 2
polynucleotide chains running in opposite
directions.
 Both strands are complementary to each other.
 The bases are on the inside of the molecules and the
2 chains are joined together by double H-bond
between A and T and triple H-bond between C and G.
 The base pairing is very specific which make the 2
strands complementary to each other.
 So each strand contain all the required information
for synthesis (replication) of a new copy to its
complementary.
 RNA structure
 RNA is a single stranded
polynucleotide molecule.

 It can take 3 levels of structure;

 Primary: sequence of nucleotides
 Secondary: hairpin loops (base pairing)
 Tertiary: motifs and 3D foldings
RNA structure

Transfer RNA (tRNA) structure

 RNA structure
 It is formed of linear polynucleotide
 It is generally single stranded
 The pentose sugar is Ribose
 Uracile (U) replace Thymine (T) in the
pyrimidine bases.

Although RNA is generally single stranded,

intra-molecular H-bond base pairing occur
between complementary bases on the same
molecule (secondary structure)
 Central Dogma
DNA ---------→ RNA---------→Protein.
 This unidirectional flow equation represents the
Central Dogma (fundamental law) of molecular
biology.
 This is the mechanism whereby inherited
information is used to create actual objects, namely
enzymes and structural proteins.
 Genetic code
 The alphabet of the genetic code contains
only four letters (A,T,G,C).

 A number of experiments confirmed that the

genetic code is written in 3-letter words, each
of which codes for particular amino acid.

 A nucleic acid word (3 nucleotide letters) is

referred to as a codon.
 Types of RNA
 Messenger RNA (mRNA):
 Carries genetic information copied from DNA in the form of
a series of 3-base code, each of which specifies a particular
amino acid.
 Transfer RNA (tRNA):
 It is the key that read the code on the mRNA.
 Each amino acid has its own tRNA, which binds to it and
carries it to the growing end of a polypeptide chain.
 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA):
 Associated with a set of proteins to form the ribosomes.
 These complex structures, which physically move along the
mRNA molecule, catalyze the assembly of amino acids into
protein chain.
 They also bind tRNAs that have the specific amino acids
according to the code.
 Differences between DNA and RNA
Comparison DNA RNA
Name DeoxyriboNucleic Acid RiboNucleic Acid

Function Long-term storage of genetic Used to transfer the genetic code

information; transmission of from the nucleus to the ribosomes to
genetic information to make make proteins. RNA is used to
other cells and new organisms. transmit genetic information in
some organisms and may have been
the molecule used to store genetic
blueprints in primitive organisms.

Structural B-form double helix. DNA is a A-form helix. RNA usually is a

Features double-stranded molecule single-strand helix consisting of
consisting of a long chain of shorter chains of nucleotides.
nucleotides.
Comparison DNA RNA
Composition of deoxyribose sugar ribose sugar
Bases and Sugars phosphate backbone and four phosphate backbone and four
nitrogen-containing nitrogen-containing nucleobases:
nucleobases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, uracil
adenine, guanine, cytosine, bases
thymine bases
Propagation DNA is self-replicating. RNA is synthesized from DNA on
an as-needed basis.

Base Pairing AT (adenine-thymine) AU (adenine-uracil)

GC (guanine-cytosine) GC (guanine-cytosine)

Location DNA is found in the nucleus of Depending on the type of RNA, this
a cell and in mitochondria. molecule is found in a cell's nucleus,
its cytoplasm, and its ribosome.