Lecture : 9

Molecular Biology: Nucleic Acids

Course Instructor:
Dr. Anum Masood

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 Nucleic Acid
• Code of our whole lives are stored in a long molecule called DNA,
deoxyribonucleic acid.

• In eukaryotes, DNA is tightly packed and stored in the nucleus of the

cell while in prokaryotes it is dispersed in the cytoplasm.

• DNA comes in the form of a double helix, with two complementary

strands.

• Each strand is a chain of a nucleotides that are fixed to a sugar

backbone stitched together via phosphate bounds.
 Nucleic Acid
• Nucleotides are organic molecules

• They are monomer units for forming the nucleic acid (DNA) and (RNA)

• DNA & RNA both are essential biomolecules in all life-forms on Earth.

• Nucleotides are the building blocks of nucleic acids

• They are composed of three subunit molecules: a nucleic base, a five-

carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and at least one phosphate
group.

• They are also known as phosphate nucleotides.

Nucleic Acid

• For proteins, the monomers are amino acids. For

Nucleic acids (DNA/RNA), the monomers are
nucleotides, each of which is made of a pentose
sugar, a nitrogenous base and a phosphate group.

• A monomer is a molecule that, as a unit, binds

chemically to other molecules Large numbers of
monomer units combine to form polymers in a
process called polymerization.

Each strand is composed of alternating sugar and phosphate

group, forming a sugar-phosphate backbone using a strong
covalent bond. Nucleotides are attached to the backbone, one
nucleotide per one sugar group.
 Nucleic Acid

Pyrimidine Purine

CG3: C=G
AT2: A=T
 Nucleic Acid
• Because of complementarity of the two strains, one can use one strain
to infer the composition of another strain.

• Both strands carry the same information.

• The difference in strength of the bonds turns DNA into a sort of a

zipper.

• It does not take much energy to unzip the DNA, that is, open the
double helix, while the backbone holding the strain together and
protecting the sequence against any damages.
 Nucleic Acid
Directionality
• Turns out that two strains of the DNA run in a different direction.

• To start thinking about direction, we have to examine a sugar group

from a sugar-phosphate backbone.
 Nucleic Acid
Directionality
• To make life easier, and to put some order in the chemical formulas,
chemists have decided to number the carbon atoms in the sugar and
label them with "prime" notation, that is, using a number and a prime
sign, like 1' (one-prime) and 3' (three prime).

• Here is a depiction of the atom numbering for a sugar group:

 Nucleic Acid
Directionality
• Sugar is attached to the backbone with a 5'-end
(five prime end), having a phosphate group, and
a 3'-end on the other side.

• DNA has a 5' and a 3' end, according to the

carbon atom of the sugar that ends the chain.

• Notice that if one strand runs from 5' to 3', the

other, complementary one, runs in the opposite
direction, from 3' to 5'.
Questions

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