NUCLEIC ACIDS

Nucleic acids are large organic compounds found in the chromosomes of living cells and viruses. They
are strong acids found in the nucleus of the cells. The nucleic acid polymers are with high molecular
weights as high as 100,000,000 grams per mole. With proteins, nucleic acids are most important
biological macromolecules. They are found in abundance in all living cells.
History
In 1869, Friedrich Miescher isolated nuclei from pus cell and found that they contained phosphate-rich
substance, he named it nuclein.
In 1899, Altmann, introduced the term nuclei acid. Fischer in the 1880s, discovered purine and
pyramidine bases in nucleic acids. Zacharis in the year 1881, identified nuclein with chromatin. In 1884,
Hertwig claimed that nuclein is responsible for the transmission of hereditary characters. In 1941,
Caspersson and Brachet, related that nucleic acids were connected to protein synthesis. In 1944, Oswald
T. Avery, Colin M. MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty, experimented that DNA is directly involved in
inheritance. In 1953, James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick constructed the double helical model for
the DNA molecule.

Nucleic Acid Definition

Nucleic acids are essential large biological molecules for all forms of life. The nucleic acids include the
DNA and the RNA. They are the hereditary determinants of living organisms. They are present in most
living cells either in free state or bound to proteins as nucleoproteins. The nucleic acidsare biopolymers
with mononucleotides ad their repeating units. The monomers are known as nucleotides, they are made
up of three units: a sugar, an amine and a phosphate group.

Properties of Nucleic Acids

Properties of nucleic acids are as follows:
- Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are long polymers made of repeating units of
nucleotides.
- Nucleotide units are made of phosphate-sugar-nitrogenous base units.
- The nitrogenous bases found in DNA are adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine.
- Adenine and guanine are purine bases while cytosine and thymine are pyrimidnes.
- In RNA, the thymine bases id replaced by uracil which is also a pyrimidine.
- The nucleotides are linked with phosphodiester bonds.
- They are linked by a phosphate group on the 5th position of sugar residue
becomes linked to 3'
hydroxyl group of the preceeding sugar molecule.
-The double stranded model of the DNA was worked out by Watson and Crick in
1953.
- The double helix model consists of two strands wound around a central axis with
the bases stacked
inside.
-The order of the strand is in opposite directions, i.e., from 5' to 3' direction in one
and 3'to 5' direction
in the other.
-The bases stacked in the center of the helix as they interact with each other
through weak hydrogen
bonds.
- Hydrogen bonds are weaker than covalent bonds, they are continually forming and
disassociating.
- In the double stranded nucleic acids, the adenine form hydrogen bonds only with
thymine (or uracil)
molecule. While cytidine will only form hydrogen bonds with guanine.
- Hence, in a a given strand of DNA, the amount of adenine is always equal to the
amount of thymine,
and the amount of cytidine always equals the amount of guanine, in a given
species.
- The per cent of the G-T and the A-T is variable from species to species.
- The base pairs form a flat plain in the helix, the adenine forming two
hydrogen bonds with thymine,

and the cytidine forming three bonds with guanine.

- Using the concept of base pairing, all the enzymes and substrates necessary, the
two DNA strands
when copied separately, wherever there is adenine in the original strand, the
duplicated strand will
have thymidine, and guanine would be matched to cytosine.
- After replication, each original strand (parent strand), is paired with a new
(daughter) strand. This type
of replication is known as semi-conservative mode of duplication.
-The double stranded DNA can be denatured by alkaline conditions or heat.
- Small stretches of polynucleotides will anneal to larger single stranded DNA
molecule if the DNA
sequence matches, by base pairing.

Types of Nucleic Acids

Nucleic acids are of two types DNA and RNA

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

DNA is one of the macromolecules, they are essential to all living forms.

Deoxyribonucleic acid contains the genetic information, it is used in the development and
functioning of all living organisms.

The DNA segments carry genetic information are called the genes.

Other DNA segments have structural functions or regulate the genetic information.

DNA are made of two chains made of polymer units of nucleotides.

The backbones of DNA are made of sugar and phosphate groups which are joined by ester
bonds.

The two strands of DNA are anti-parallel, they run in opposite directions.

Each sugar molecule is attached to one of the four nucleobases.

The nucleobases encode genetic information, that is read using the genetic code.

Inside the cell, the DNA are arranged in long structures called chromosomes.

The chromosomes are duplicated in the process of DNA replication, during cell division.

Each cell has its own one complete set of chromosomes.

In eukaryotic organisms, most DNA is stored in the nucleus of the cell, and also some of it in
cellular organelles like mitochondria or chloroplast.

The prokaryotes store the DNA in the cytoplasm.

Chromatin proteins like histones compact and organize the DNA

RNA (ribonucleic acid)

The functions of ribonucleic acid is to convert genetic information from genes into amino acid
sequences of protein.

In some viruses, RNA contains the genetic information.

RNA is of three types, they are tRNA (transfer RNA), mRNA (messenger RNA) and rRNA
(ribosomal RNA).

Messenger RNA, as the name suggests acts a messenger. It carries genetic information
sequences between DNA and ribosomes, and it also directs protein synthesis.

rRNA is a major component of the ribososmes, they catalyze the formation of peptide bond.

The tRNA act as a carrier molecule for the amino acids that are used in protein synthesis. The
tRNA are also responsible for decoding the mRNA.

Structure of Nucleic Acids

Structure of nucleic acids DNA and RNA are similar. The structure is divided into four different levels,
primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary.

Primary Structure
Primary structure of nucleic acids is a linear sequence of nucleotides, which are linked to each other by
phosphodiester linkages. Nucleotides are made up of three components - Nitrogenous base, 5carbon sugar

and

phosphate

groups. Nitrogenous

base

are

purines

(adenine,

guanine) and

pyrimidines {cytosine, thymine (present in DNA only), uracil (present in RNA only)}. The 5-carbon sugar is
deoxyribose for DNA and and ribose sugar in RNA. The purine bases, form glycosidic bond between their
9' nitrogen and the 9' - OH group of the sugar molecule. The pyrimidine bases, they form glycosidic bond
between 1' nitrogen and the 9' -OH of the deoxyribose. In both purine and pyrimidine bases the
phosphate group forms a bond with the sugar molecule between one of its negatively charged oxygen
groups and the 5' -OH of the sugar. Nucleotides forms phosphodiester linkages between the 5' and 3'

carbon atoms, these form the nucleic acids. Nucleotides sequences are complementary to one another.

Example of complementary sequence AGCT is TCGA.

Secondary Structure
Secondary structure is the interaction between the bases. This structure shows parts of which strands are
bound to each other. The two strands of DNA in the double helix of the DNA are bound to each other by
hydrogen bounds. The nucleotides on one strand base pairs with the nucleotides of the other strand. The
secondary structure of the DNA is predominantly the base pairing of the two polynucleotide strands
forming a double helix.

Tertiary Structure
Tertiary structure is the three dimensional shape into which the entire chain is folded. Tertiary structure
arrangement differs in four structural forms:
1. Left or right handedness.
2. Length of the turn of the helix.
3. Number of base pairs per turn.
4. The difference in size between major and the minor groove.

Quaternary Structure
Quaternary structure is the higher-level of organization of the nucleic acids. This structure refers to the
interactions of the nucleic acids with the other molecules. The most commonly seen organization is the
form of chromatin which shows interaction with small proteins histones.

Functions of Nucleic Acids

Functions of nucleic acids are:

The main functions is store and transfer genetic information.

To use the genetic information to direct the synthesis of new protein.

The deoxyribonucleic acid is the storage for place for genetic information in the cell.

DNA controls the synthesis of RNA in the cell.

The genetic information is transmitted from DNA to the protein synthesizers in the cell.

RNA also directs the production of new protein by transmitting genetic information to the protein
building structures.

The function of the nitrogenous base sequences in the DNA backbone determines the proteins
being synthesized.

The function of the double helix of the DNA is that no disorders occur in the genetic information if
it is lost or damaged.

RNA directs synthesis of proteins.

m-RNA takes genetic message from RNA.

t-RNA transfers activated amino acid, to the site of protein synthesis.

r-RNA are mostly present in the ribosomes, and responsible for stability of m-RNA.