Unit 2 Section 2.1 DNA and RNA

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  • DNA and RNA
    • DNA function
      • DNA contains your genetic information,
    • DNA structure
      • DNA has a Double Helix Structure.This means that a DNA molecule is formed from two separate strands which wind around each other to form a spiral
        • The Strands are Polynucleotides, they are made up of lots of nucleotides joined together in a long chain
          • DNA molecules are very long and are coiled up very tightly,
      • Nucleotide Structure,
        • Each Nucleotide is made fom a phosphate group, a pentose sugar and  a nitrogenous base
          • the sugar in DNA is a deoxyribose sugar
            • each nucleotide has the same sugar and phosphate
              • the base on each nucleotide can vary there are 4 types of base
                • Adenine
                • Thymine
                • Cytosine
                • Guanine
                  • Purine
                    • Adenine
      • Polynucleotide Strands
        • Many Nucleotides join together to form polynucleotide strands
        • the nucleotides join up between the phosphate group of one nucleotide and the sugar of another creating a
          • Sugar - Phosphate Backbone
      • Complementary base pairing
        • each base can only join with one particular partner
          • A and T always Pair
          • C and T always Pair
    • RNA Function
      • The Nucleic Acid RNA is similar in structure to DNA. there are several different types of RNA, each with a different function.
        • one of the main types is mRNA - it is used to make proteins from the instructions contained within DNA
    • RNA Structure
      • like DNA, RNA is made of Nucleotides that contain one of four different bases. the Nuclotides also form a polynucleotide strand with a sugar - phosphate backbone
        • But the structure of RNA differs from  DNA in three main ways
          • The sugar in RNA nucleotides is a ribose sugar
          • The nuclotides form a single polynucleotide strand
          • Uracil replaces Thymine as a base, Uracil always pairs with adenine in RNA
  • Pyrimidines
    • Thymine
    • Cytosine
  • Purine

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