DNA usually exists as a double helix with two strands running in opposite directions. Each strand is a polymer of nucleotides, which consist of a deoxyribose sugar, phosphate group, and one of four nitrogenous bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine). The bases pair up between strands with adenine pairing with thymine via two hydrogen bonds and guanine pairing with cytosine via three hydrogen bonds. This double helical structure is stabilized by base pairing and hydrophobic interactions between stacked bases, as well as counterions in the surrounding medium that shield the charged phosphate backbone. RNA is similar but exists as a single strand, contains the sugar ribose instead of deoxyribose, and replaces thymine with
DNA usually exists as a double helix with two strands running in opposite directions. Each strand is a polymer of nucleotides, which consist of a deoxyribose sugar, phosphate group, and one of four nitrogenous bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine). The bases pair up between strands with adenine pairing with thymine via two hydrogen bonds and guanine pairing with cytosine via three hydrogen bonds. This double helical structure is stabilized by base pairing and hydrophobic interactions between stacked bases, as well as counterions in the surrounding medium that shield the charged phosphate backbone. RNA is similar but exists as a single strand, contains the sugar ribose instead of deoxyribose, and replaces thymine with
DNA usually exists as a double helix with two strands running in opposite directions. Each strand is a polymer of nucleotides, which consist of a deoxyribose sugar, phosphate group, and one of four nitrogenous bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine). The bases pair up between strands with adenine pairing with thymine via two hydrogen bonds and guanine pairing with cytosine via three hydrogen bonds. This double helical structure is stabilized by base pairing and hydrophobic interactions between stacked bases, as well as counterions in the surrounding medium that shield the charged phosphate backbone. RNA is similar but exists as a single strand, contains the sugar ribose instead of deoxyribose, and replaces thymine with
strands running in opposite directions (There are some examples of viral DNA which are single- stranded). Each chain is a polymer of subunits called nucleotides (hence the namepolynucleotide). Each strand has a backbone made up of (deoxy- ribose) sugar molecules linked together by phosphate groups. The 3' C of a sugar molecule is connected through a phosphate group to the 5' C of the next All DNA strands are read from the 5' to the 3' end where the 5' end terminates in a phosphate group and the 3' end terminates in a sugar molecule. Each sugar molecule is covalently linked to one of 4 possible bases (Adenine,Guanine,Cytosine andThymine). A and G are double-ringed larger molecules (calledpurines) ; C and T are single-ringed smaller molecules ( called pyrimidines). In the double-stranded DNA, the two strands run in opposite directions and the bases pair up such that A always pairs with T and G always pairs with C. The A-T base-pair has 2 hydrogen bonds and the G-C base-pair has 3 hydrogen bonds. The G-C interaction is therefore stronger (by about 30%) than A-T, and A-T rich regions of DNA The bases are oriented perpendicular to the helix axis. They are hydrophobic in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the bases (cannot form hydrogen bonds with water). The interaction energy between two bases in a double-helical structure is therefore a combination of hydrogen-bonding between complementary bases, and hydrophobic interactions between the neighboring stacks of base-pairs. Even in the single-stranded state, the bases prefer to be stacked (like the steps of a spiral If there is no salt in the surrounding medium, there is a strong repulsion between the two strands and they will fall apart. Thereforecounter-ionsare essential for the double-helical structure. Counter-ions shield the charges on the sugar- phosphate backbone. They may also contribute to anattractive interactionfrom fluctuating counter-ions around the backbone, similar to the Van der Waals interactions for fluctuating induced dipoles. The backbone of polynucleotides are highly charged (1 unit negative charge for each phosphate group; 2 negative charges per base- RNA structure RNA molecules are also polynucleotides with a sugar-phosphate backbone and four kinds of bases. The main differences between RNA and DNA are:-(1)RNA molecules are single-stranded. (2)The sugar in RNA is a ribose sugar (as opposed to deoxy-ribose) and has an OH at the 2' C position highlighted in red in the figure below (DNA sugars have H at that position). (3)Thymine in DNA is replaced byUracil in RNA. T has a methyl (-CH3) group instead of the H
(Bible in History - La Bible Dans L'histoire 8) John T. Willis - Yahweh and Moses in Conflict - The Role of Exodus 4-24-26 in The Book of Exodus-Peter Lang International Academic Publishers (2010)