Nucleic Acids and their Chemical Compounds

Nucleic acids are long-chain polymeric molecules that are majorly of two different types. Deoxyribonucleic acid, known as DNA, and ribonucleic acid, is known as RNA. DNA and RNA are the genetic material present in all humans, living organisms, and viruses that are nucleic acids. In this study material notes on Nucleic Acids & Their Chemical Composition, we will introduce nucleic acids, types of nucleic acids, their basic structures, and other related topics.

What are nucleic acids?

The nucleic acids can be defined as the polymer of nucleotides where every nucleotide has the sugar, nitrogenous base, and terminal phosphate group. Mainly, there are two types of nitrogenous bases. These include pyrimidines and purines.

The human body comprises billions and trillions of small cells that consist of proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and other biomolecules. Most of the activities performed regularly are possible only because of biomolecules.

What is DNA? 

DNA, also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, is a group of molecules whose major responsibility is to carry and transmit genetic instructions or hereditary materials from parents to the offspring. This condition is true for viruses as well.

Certain viruses consist of RNA as their genetic material, whereas others contain DNA as their genetic material. Apart from taking care of the inheritance of genetic information, DNA plays a vital role in the production of proteins. 

In simple terms, the DNA structure is mainly like a twisted ladder. DNA is a nucleic acid that composes nucleotides. Nucleotides are the basic building blocks of DNA. Every nucleotide consists of phosphate groups, sugar, and nitrogenous bases. A nucleotide contains one of the four types of nitrogenous bases: adenine, denoted by A, thymine, denoted by T, Guanine, represented by G, and cytosine, denoted by C.

Types of DNA 

There are majorly three types of DNA. These include:

• A-DNA is a right-handed double helix, the same as the B-DNA form.
• B-DNA is a right-handed helix and is the most common DNA conformation. 
• Z-DNA – Unlike others, the Z-DNA is left-handed DNA. 

Functions of DNA 

DNA can be determined as a genetic material responsible for carrying all the hereditary information. Genes are tiny segments of DNA that consist of 250 – two million base pairs. Further, the polypeptide chains are folded in secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures to form different proteins. 

All organisms have several genes in their DNA, which means multiple types of proteins can be formulated. In most organisms, proteins are the main functional and structural molecules. DNA is responsible for storing genetic information, but they perform several other functions as well. These include – 

• Replication process
• Cellular metabolism
• DNA fingerprinting
• Transcription
• Gene therapy
• Mutations

What is RNA? 

RNA or Ribonucleic Acid helps synthesise proteins in the human body. This nucleic acid is credible for generating new cells in the human body. It is usually achieved from the DNA molecule. Although they seem to be the same, the significant difference between the two is that, unlike DNA, RNA has a single strand and consists of only a single ribose sugar molecule in it. As a result, it is named ribonucleic acid. 

RNA has nitrogen bases called Guanine, adenine, Cytosine, and Thymine. Adenine and uracil are regarded as the crucial and primary building blocks of RNA, and both of them shape base-pair with the support of two hydrogen bonds. 

Types of RNA 

There are multiple types of RNA, which are as follows- 

• tRNA – Transfer RNA

The transfer RNA, also known as the tRNA, is mainly responsible for choosing the right amino acid or protein required by the body to help ribosomes. tRNA is placed at the endpoints of every amino acid. The other name of transfer RNA is soluble RNA. 

• rRNA – Ribosomal RNA

The ribosomal RNA is located in the cytoplasm of a cell and is the major component of the ribosome, as ribosomes are found here. In living cells, the ribosome plays a significant role in synthesising and translating mRNA into proteins. The rRNA majorly consists of cellular RNA.

• mRNA – Messenger RNA

The messenger RNA is another type of RNA that majorly works by transferring genetic materials into ribosomes and passing instructions regarding the proteins required. As per their functions, these are referred to as messenger RNA. 

The basic structure of RNA 

Although RNA is very similar to DNA, it’s not the same. There are mainly two differences between RNA and DNA. RNA consists of all the nitrogenous bases similar to DNA except thymine, which is replaced with uracil. It has two major building blocks, namely adenine, and uracil, which forms a base-pair through the help of two hydrogen bonds.

Functions of RNA 

RNA is involved in many functions and is found easily in living organisms, including viruses, plants, bacteria, and animals. Here are the primary functions of RNA – 

• It promotes DNA translation into proteins.
• It acts as an adapter molecule during protein synthesis.
• It functions as a messenger between ribosomes and DNA. 
• RNA is termed as the carrier of all genetic information.
• RNA allows ribosomes to pick the right amino acid. 

Conclusion 

Nucleic Acids & Their Chemical Composition is one of the most interesting topics of Chemistry. We discussed nucleic acids, which are the polymers of nucleotides where each nucleotide has the sugar, nitrogenous base, and terminal phosphate group. We also covered different types of nucleic acids,