Jalandoni, Mica Alfonzo A.

N1E

NUCLEIC ACIDS
DATA AND RESULTS:
QUALITATIVE TESTS
SAMPLES OBSERVATION
TEST FOR NUCLEOPROTEINS
Darker violet precipitate
1 ml filtrate + 1 ml of 10% NaOH
+ 10 drops of 1% CuSO4

TEST FOR THE PRESENCE OF

Lighter green precipitate
PHOPHATES
1 ml test solution + 2 ml of 10%
HNO3
+ 2 ML 5% ammonium
molybdate

TEST FOR THE PRESENCE OF

RIBOSE (Bial’s Orcinol reagent)
1 ml of test solution Lighter green precipitate

1 ml 0.1% ribose solution Darker green precipitate

1 ml 0.1% glucose solution More darker green precipitate than

ribose solution

Gelatinous precipitate
TEST FOR THE PRESENCE OF
PURINES
2 ml of the filtrate + 3 ml 10%
NH4OH + 3 drops of 5% AgNO3
Questions:
1. What is the basic structure of nucleic acid? Give its basic components.
2. Give 4 basic differences between DNA& RNA.
3. How did Watson & Creek describe the basic structure of DNA?

Answers:

1. Nucleotide consists of a nitrogen-containing aromatic base attached to a pentose

(five-carbon) sugar, which is in turn attached to a phosphate group. Each nucleic
acid contains four of five possible nitrogen-containing bases: adenine, guanine,
cytosine, thymine, and uracil.
2. DNA is a polymer that has a deoxyribose and phosphate backbone. Adenine,
guanine, cytosine, and thymine are the four nitrogenous bases. RNA is a polymer
having a backbone of ribose and phosphate. Adenine, guanine, cytosine, and
uracil are the four nitrogenous bases.
3. Watson and Crick were not the first ones to uncover the structure of DNA.
Maurice Wilkins, a colleague of theirs, was also given the Nobel Prize for the
discovery. He gave the two the findings of Rosalind Franklin's work in x-ray
crystallography photographs—a method of analyzing the structure of crystalline
solids—and Watson and Crick altered their unworkable theory to reflect Rosalind
Franklin's work. Franklin was uninformed and did not win the award for this
finding, which was published in 1953, the year I was born. She was a diligent
researcher who was hesitant to jump to the (right) conclusion reached by
Watson, Crick, and Wilkins.