Tutorial Nucleic Acid

Name: Matric number:

1. Draw a structural formula for the DNA dinucleotide TG that is phosphorylated at the 5’-end only.

2. Name the type of covalent bonds joining monomers in these biopolymers?

a. Protein-
b. Nucleic acid-

3. The DNA of sea urchins contains about 32% A. What percentage of the other three bases would
you expect in sea urchin DNA? Explain.

4. What is the difference between DNA & RNA?

5. What nonapeptide is coded for by the following fragment of mRNA?

a. 5’-AAA-GUU-GGC-UAC-CCC-GGA-AUG-GUG-GUC-3’

6. What is the sequence of bases in the template strand of DNA that codes for mRNA in 5(a)?

7. What is the sequence of bases in the sense strand of DNA that codes for mRNA in 5(a)?

8. Name amino acids that do the following ribonucleotide triplets code?

a. AAU-
b. GAG-
c. UCC-

9. The job of tRNA is to do which one of the following? (circle it)

a. Read the mRNA and tell the ribosome to bring a specific amino acid to the growing
protein
b. Bring any amino acid to the ribosome so it can be added to the growing protein
 c. Bring a specific amino acid to the ribosome so it can be added to the growing protein
d. Bring a codon to the ribosome so it can be added to the growing protein

10. What enzyme is used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR). What is the function of this enzyme
and what unique feature does it possess that is critical for the success of PCR.

11. Why is PCR helpful to forensic scientists? And how does it help them solve crimes?