Nucleic Acids

Composition and Functions

• Deoxy-ribonucleic acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Brief History
• DNA was discovered in 1869 by Johann Friedrich Miescher
• The demonstration that DNA contained genetic information
was first made in 1944, by Avery, Macleod and MacCarty
Functions of nucleic acids

• Storage and transfer of genetic information.

• The chemical basis of heredity
• Responsible for maintaining the identity of different species
of organisms over millions of years.
• Every aspect of cellular function is under the control of DNA.
• The DNA is organized into genes, the fundamental units of
genetic information.
• The genes control the protein synthesis through the
mediation of RNA
• DNA, RNA and proteins constitutes the central dogma of
molecular biology

• The universal currency of energy, namely ATP, is a nucleotide

derivative.
• Nucleotides are also components of important co-enzymes
like NAD+ and FAD, and metabolic regulators such as cAMP
and cGMP.
• Gene : A segment of a DNA molecule that contains the
information required for the synthesis of a functional
biological product, whether protein or RNA.
• A cell typically has many thousands of genes and DNA
molecules.
• The storage and transmission of biological information are
the only known functions of DNA.
• RNAs have a broader range of functions, and several classes
are found in cells.
• Ribosomal RNAs(rRNAs) are components of ribosomes, the
complexes that carry out the synthesis of proteins.
• Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are intermediaries, carrying
genetic information from one or a few genes to a ribosome,
where the corresponding proteins can be synthesized.
• Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are adapter molecules that translate
the information in mRNA into a specific sequence of amino
acids
Composition of Nucleotides
A nucleotide is made up of 3 components:
a. Nitrogenous base, (a purine or a pyrimidine)
b. Pentose sugar, either ribose or deoxyribose;
c. Phosphate groups esterified to the sugar.

When a base combines with a pentose sugar, a nucleoside is

formed.

• Nucleoside = Base + Sugar.

• Nucleotide = Nucleoside + Phosphate
Structure of nucleotides.
Major bases in Nucleic Acids
• The nitrogenous bases are derivatives of two parent
compounds, pyrimidine and purine.
• Aromatic heterocyclic compounds.
• Both DNA and RNA contain two major purine bases, adenine
(A) and guanine (G), and two major pyrimidines.
• The pyrimidine bases present in nucleic acids are cytosine,
thymine and uracil.
• Cytosine is present in both DNA and RNA.
• Thymine is present in DNA
• Uracil in RNA.
Major purine and pyrimidine bases of nucleic acids
Minor bases found in nucleic acids

• 5-methylcytosine
• N4-acetylcytosine
• N6-methyladenine
• N6, N6-dimethyladenine
• Pseudouracil
• Help in the recognition of specific enzymes.
Other biologically important bases
• Hypoxanthine
• Xanthine
• Uric acid
• Present in the free state in the cells.
Sugars of nucleic acids

• Nucleic acids have two kinds of pentoses.

• The DNA contain D-deoxyribose.
• The RNA contain D-ribose.
• In nucleotides, both types of pentoses are in their -furanose
(closed five-membered ring) form.
Nomenclature of nucleotides
• When the nucleoside is esterified to a phosphate group, it is
called a nucleotide or nucleoside mono-phosphate.
• When a second phosphate gets esterified to the existing
phosphate group, a nucleoside diphosphate is generated.
• The attachment of a 3rd phosphate group results in the
formation of a nucleoside triphosphate.
• The nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are polymers of nucleoside
monophosphates
Phosphodiester linkage
• The successive nucleotides of both DNA and RNA are
covalently linked through phosphate-group “bridges,” in
which the phosphate group of one nucleotide unit is joined to
the hydroxyl group of the next nucleotide creating a
phosphodiester linkage .
Phosphodiester linkages in the covalent
backbone of DNA and RNA.
• A short nucleic acid is referred to
as an oligonucleotide.
• A longer nucleic acid is called a
polynucleotide.
STRUCTURE OF DNA
• Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is composed of four deoxy
ribonucleotides
• deoxyadenylate (A), deoxyguanylate (G), deoxycytidylate
(C), and thymidylate (T).
• These units are combined through 3' to 5' phospho diester
bonds to polymerise into a long chain.
• The nucleotide is formed by a combination of base + sugar +
phosphoric acid.
• The 3'-hydroxyl of one sugar is combined to the 5'-hydroxyl
of another sugar through a phosphate group
Polarity of DNA molecule
• In the case of DNA, the base sequence is always written from
the 5' end to the 3' end. This is called the polarity of the DNA
chain.
Watson-Crick Model of DNA Structure
The salient features of Watson-Crick model of DNA are given
below
1. Right handed double helix
• DNA consists of two polydeoxy ribonucleotide chains twisted
around one another in a right handed double helix similar to
a spiral stair case.
• The bases are located perpendicular to the helix axis,
whereas the sugars are nearly at right angles to the axis.
2. The base pairing rule
• Always the two strands are complementary to each other.
• So, the adenine of one strand will pair with thymine of the
opposite strand, while guanine will pair with cytosine.
• The base pairing (A with T; G with C) is called Chargaff's rule,
which states
• Number of purines = number of pyrimidines.
3. Hydrogen bonding
• The DNA strands are held together mainly by hydrogen bonds
between the purine and pyrimidine bases.
• There are two hydrogen bonds between A and T while there
are three hydrogen bonds between C and G.
• The GC bond is therefore stronger than the AT bond.
4. Antiparallel
• One strand runs in the 5' to 3' direction, while the other is in
the 3' to 5' direction.
5. Other features
• In the DNA, each strand acts as a template for the synthesis
of the opposite strand during replication process
• The spiral has a pitch of 3.4 nanometers per turn.
• Within a single turn, 10 base pairs are seen.
• Thus, adjacent bases are separated by 0.34 nm.
• The diameter or width of the helix is 1.9 to 2.0 nanometers.
• A major groove (1.2 nm) and a minor groove (0.6 nm) wind
along the molecule, parallel to the phospho-diester backbone.
• In these grooves, proteins interact with the exposed bases.
Denaturation of DNA strands
• The double stranded DNA may be denatured and separated
by heat. This is called as melting of DNA.
• Tm or melting temperature is the temperature when half of
the helical structure is denatured.
• At lower temperature, the melted strands are re-associated;
this is called annealing.
Polynucleotide
Watson-Crick model of double helical structure of DNA.
Base pairing rule