RNA

Manoj Sigdel
Department of Biochemistry
Manipal College of Medical
Sciences
Email: manoj.sigdel@hotmail.com

DNA

RNA

Sugar moiety is deoxy

ribose

Sugar moiety is ribose

So, histologically
identified by orcinol
colour reaction

Uracil, a pyrimidine
base is absent

Thymine, a pyrimidine
base is
absent

Double-stranded
molecules
Sum of purine bases is
equal to sum of
pyrimidine bases A + G
=C+T

Single stranded
molecules
Sum of purine bases is
not equal to sum of
pyrimidine bases A + G
#C+T

DNA

RNA

Resistant to hydrolysis
by alkali because of
absence of hydroxyl
group on 2 carbon atom
of deoxyribose

Because of presence of
hydroxyl group on 2
carbon atom of ribose
RNA is easily hydrolyzed
by alkali
Alkali can hydrolyse
RNA to 23-cyclic esters

Bases are not modified

No catalytic activity

Bases are modified

Some RNA are
catalytically active
Only one form or type
More than three types
Usually not subjected to Degraded in the cell by

 Like DNAs, RNAs are also polynucleotides

There are mainly three types of RNAs in all prokaryotic
and eukaryotic cells. The three types of RNA are
1. Messenger RNA or m-RNA ( 5-10%)
2. Transfer RNA or t-RNA (10-20%)
3. Ribosmal RNA or r-RNA (50-80%)
They differ from each other by size, function and
stability

Fig: Expression of genetic information by transcription

Messenger RNA (mRNA)

Synthesized in the nucleus as
heterogenous nuclear RNA (hnRNA)
hnRNA on processing liberates the
functional mRNA which enters the
cytoplasm to participate in protein
synthesis.

 The eukaryotic mRNA is capped at the 5

terminal end by 7-methylguanosine
triphosphate.
This cap prevent the hydrolysis of mRNA
by 5exonuclease
Also involved in the recognition of mRNa
for protein synthesis

 3 terminal end of mRNA contains a

polymer of adenylate residues (20-250
nucleotides) which is known as poly (A)
tail.
Provides stability to mRNA
Prevent mRNA from the attack of 3
exonucleases

Fig: Structure of eukaryotic mRNA

Fig: Structure of mRNA

 The prokaryotic mRNAs are polycistronic,

since a single mRNA has many coding
regions that code for different
polypeptides
Eukaryotic mRNA is monocistronic, since it
codes for a single polypeptide

Transfer RNA (tRNA)

There are at least 20 species of tRNAs corresponding
to 20 amino acids present in protein structure
The structure of tRNA resembles that of a clover leaf
tRNA contains mainly four arms,
1)The accepter arm: This arm is capped with a
sequence CCA (5 to 3). The amino acid is attached
to the acceptor arm

A: Characteristic tRNA structure

B: Folded tRNA structure found in cells

2) The anticodon arm: This arm with the 3

specific nucleotide bases (anticodon) is
responsible for the recognition of triplet
codon of mRNA. The codon (present in
mRNA) and anticodon(present in tRNA) are
complementary to each other

3) The D arm: It is so named due to the

presence of dihydrouridine
4) T
C arm: this arm contains a
sequence of T, pseudouridine
(represented by psi,
) and C
The variable arm: this arm is the
most variable arm in tRNA

Base pairs in tRNA:

The structure of tRNA is maintained
due to complementary base pairing
in the arms.

Ribosomal RNA
rRNAs are found in association with
several proteins as components of the
ribosomes ( the complex structure that
serves as the sites for protein synthesis)

Fig: Ribosomal composition

S is the Svedberg unit, which is related to the
molecular weight and shape of the compound

RNAs
and
their
functions
Type of RNA
Abbreviat Functions
ion
Messenger RNA

mRNA

Transfers genetic information

from genes to ribosomes to
synthesize proteins

Heterogenous
nuclear RNA

hnRNA

Serves as precursor of mRNA

and other RNAs

Transfer RNA

tRNA

Transfers amino acid to mRNA

for protein biosynthesis

Ribosomal RNA

rRNA

Provides structural framework

for ribosomes

Small nuclear RNA

snRNA

Involved in mRNA processing

Small nucleolar RNA

snoRNA

Role in processing of rRNA

molecules

Small cytoplasmic
RNA

scRNA

Involved in the selection of

proteins for export

Transfer-messenger
RNA

tmRNA

Mostly present in bacteria. Adds

short peptide tags to proteins to

Catalytic RNAs
Ribozyme: RNA in association with
protein where the RNA component is
catalytically active
Eg: Ribonuclease P (Rnase P) It cleaves
tRNA precursors to generate mature
tRNA molecules

Free nucleotides
Free nucleotides which are not a part of
nucleic acids are also found in tissue. For e.g;
1) ATP and ADP
2) Cyclic AMP (cAMP or 3,5-adenosine
monophosphate)
3) S-adenosylmethione
4) Uridine nucleotide derivatives (UDP and UTP)
5) Synthetic derivatives: Eg; 4-hydroxypyrazole
pyrimidine (allopurinol) is marketed as an
inhibitor of xanthine oxidase in the treatment of
hyperuricemia