Nucleotides and DNA

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Nucleic acids can be found in two forms in the body: DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acids) and RNA (ribose nucleic acids)

All the DNA is contained in the nucleus of a eukaryote cell. The RNA can be found in three forms; mRNA, tRNA and rRNA.

Nucleotides are the monomers of DNA, they consist of three components:

  • A phosphate group
  • A 5-carbon (pentose) sugar
  • A inorganic nitrogenous base

They are all joined together through covalent bonds. Nucleotides differ in two ways:

  • They can either have a deoxyribose or ribose sugar
  • They can have 5 different bases (Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Uracil and Cytosine)

Nucleotides can be joined together through a condensation reaction between the sugar group of one nucleotide and the phosphate group of another nucleotide.

Formation of DNA:

DNA is called a polynucleotide. It is made up of two anti-parallel strands which are joined together with hydrogen bonds.

Hydrogen bonding and

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