Nucleic Acids GT Biology 

Nucleic acids are composed of: A. Carbon B. Hydrogen C. Oxygen D. Nitrogen E. Phosphorous

II. Two kinds of nucleic acids DNA – DeoxyriboNucleic Acid B. RNA – RiboNucleic Acid RNA DNA

III. Structure of Nucleic Acids Formed of repeating units called nucleotides which are made of: 1. a 5 Carbon sugar 2. a Phosphate group 3. One nitrogen base A 5 carbon sugar Nitrogen base phosphate

The 5 carbon sugar 1. DNA has Deoxyribose 2. RNA has Ribose

The Nitrogenous bases 1. Adenine (A) 2. Cytosine (C) 3. Guanine (G) 4. Thymine (T) – only in DNA 5. Uracil (U) – only in RNA The bases pair up to form the center of the DNA ladder. in DNA: A-T C-G in RNA: A-U C-G

C A G T

D. The Phosphate group Phosphate groups attach the “sides” of the DNA and RNA ladder… alternating sugar and phosphate.

Sugar Bases Phosphate

How many nucleotides are in this entire section of DNA? One nucleotide

IV.Differences between DNA and RNA DNA RNA * thymine * uracil *double helix *single stranded *found in the *throughout the cell nucleus, made made in the here nucleolus *Deoxyribose *Ribose

Function 1. DNA makes up your genes that direct the creation of RNA & proteins 2. RNA helps create proteins

Create a Venn diagram comparing and Journal Entry Create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the nucleic acids DNA and RNA. just RNA both Just DNA