Nucleic acids

Introduction
• Nucleic acids are macromolecules present inside the nucleus.

• There are two types of nucleic acids, namely deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic

acid (RNA).

• The nucleic acid was first isolated in 1868 by Miescher from the nuclei of pus cells on

hospital bandages. He called it nuclein. He showed that the nuclein contained

phosphorous, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen.

• Fishcer (1880) identified that the nuclein contains two types of nitrogenous bases and

they are purines and pyrimidines.

• Altmann (1889) gave the term nucleic acid to replace nuclein.

 Cont…..

• Nucleic acid that contains ribose sugar is called the

ribonucleic acid (RNA) and that which contains
deoxyribose sugar is called the deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA).

• RNA is found both in the nucleus and in the cytoplasm.

• DNA is mainly present in the nucleus.

• In the nucleus, DNA is combined with proteins forming

Nucleoproteins.
 Structure
• Nucleic acid molecule is a long chain polynucleotide.
• It is composed of monomeric units, called nucleotides.
• Each nucleotide consists of a nucleoside and a
phosphoric acid.
• Each nucleoside consists of sugar and a base.
• Thus each nucleotide consists of a phosphoric acid, a
sugar and a base.
• The bases are of two types, namely purines and
pyrimidines.
• There are two main purine bases, adenine and guanine.
Similarly, there are three main pyrimidine bases.
• They are cytosine, thymine and uracil.
• Cytosine and thymine are commonly found in DNA.
Cytosine and uracil are found in RNA.
• In RNA, thymine is replaced by uracil.
 Nucleosides

• A base combined with a sugar molecule is

called a nucleoside.
• In DNA four different nucleosides are
present. They are adenosine, guanosine,
cytidine and thymidine.
• In RNA deoxyribose sugar is replaced by
ribose and the base thymine is replaced
by uracil.
 Nucleotides
• A nucleotide is composed of three molecules,
namely a phosphoric acid, a sugar and a base.
• Many nucleotides join together to form a
polynucleotide chain.
• The DNA contains four different types of
nucleotides.
• They are adenylic acid, guanylic acid, cytidylic
acid, thymidylic acid.
• The RNA contains uridylic acid instead of
thymidylic acid.
 Polynucleotide

• A number of nucleotide units link with one

another to form a polynucleotide chain or
nucleic acids.
• There are two types of nucleic acids. They are
• DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid)
• RNA (Ribonucleic acid)
 Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
• It is a nucleic acid containing deoxyribose
sugar.
• It is made up of two polynucleotide chains.
• Deoxyribonucleotides are formed of
deoxyribose sugar, nitrogenous bases and
phosphoric acid.
• The sugar and phosphoric acid perform a
structural role.
• The nitrogenous bases of DNA carry genetic
information.
 Chemical Composition:

• DNA is made up of three chemical

components, namely
1. Sugar

2. Phosphoric acid

3.Nitrogenous bases
 Cont…..
• DNA is present in all cells except plant virus.
• In eukaryotic cells DNA is present in the
chromosomes of nucleus.
• In addition, the mitochondria and plastids also
contain DNA.
• In eukaryotic nucleus, the DNA is in the form of a
double helix.
• In Bacteria, mitochondria and plastids the DNA
molecules are circular.
• In viruses and bacteriophages they are coiled.
Sugar
• The sugar present in the DNA is called deoxyribose. It is a pentose
sugar which contains five carbon atoms (C5H10O5). It contains one O
atom less than the ribose sugar. At carbon No.2 of deoxyribose, is
present an H-C-H group. But in ribose sugar the second carbon
atom contains H-C-OH group.
Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4)
• Phosphoric acid links the consecutive nucleotides by joining their
pentose sugars with a phosphate diester bond. This bond links
carbon 5‫ י‬in one nucleoside with carbon 3’ in the next nucloside.
Nitrogenous Bases
• These are N2 containing organic compounds. They are of two types,
name purines and pyrimidines.
Purines: Purines are two-ringed nitrogen compounds. They are of two
types, namely adenine and guanine.
Pyrimidines: These are single ringed nitrogen compounds. They are of
two types, namely thymine and cytosine.
 Nucleosides

• A base combined with a sugar molecule is called a

nucleoside.
• In DNA four different nucleosides are present. They
are
• Adenosine = Deoxyribose Sugar + Adenine
• Guanosine = Deoxyribose Sugar + Guanine
• Cytidine = Deoxyribose Sugar + Cytosine
• Thymidine= Deoxyribose Sugar + Thymine
• In a nucleoside, the first carbon of sugar is linked with
3rd position of pyrimidines or 9th position of purines.
 Nucleotides

• A nucleotide is derived from a nucleoside by

the addition of a molecule of phosphoric acid.
• The phosphate molecule is linked with sugar
molecule at 3rd carbon or 5th carbon.
• The DNA contains four different types of
nucleotides.
• They are adenylic acid, guanylic acid, cytidylic
acid and thymidylic acid.
 Polynucleotide
• A number of nucleotide units are linked with
one another and form a polynucleotide chain.
• Nucleotides are linked with one another by
phosphodiester bonds.
• A phosphodiester bond will be formed
between any two adjacent nucleotides.
 Watson and Crick Model of DNA
• Watson and Crick in 1953 proposed a model
to explain the arrangement of molecules in
DNA.
• The model is characterized by the following
features:
• DNA is a nucleic acid. It is deoxy-ribonucleic acid.
• It is a macromolecule.
• Each DNA is formed of two polynucleotide chains.
• The two chains are spirally coiled (right handed) to
from a double helix.
• Each chain is formed of many units called nucleotides.
Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA.
 Cont…..
• A nucleotide is formed of three components,
namely a phosphoric acid, a deoxyribose sugar
and a nitrogenous base. As there are four kinds of
nitrogenous bases, there are four kinds of
nucleotides, namely
Adenylic acid = P + Deoxyribose + Adenine
Guanylic acid = P + Deoxyribose + Guanine
Cytidylic acid = P + Deoxyribose + Cytosine
Thymidylic acid = P + Deoxyribose + Thymine
 Cont…..
• A nucleotide is formed of a nucleoside and a
phosphoric acid.
• Thus a nucleoside is formed of a base and a
deoxyribose sugar.
• As there are four types of nitrogenous bases,
four types of nucleosides are present. They are:
Adenosine = Deoxyribose + Adenine
Guanosine = Deoxyribose + Guanine
Cystidine = Deoxyribose + Cytosine
Thymidine = Deoxyribose + Thymine
• Adenine and guanine belong to a group of compounds
called purines.
• Similarly, thymine and cytosine belong to another group
called pyrimidines.
• In the DNA molecule purines are linked with pyrimidines.
• Adenine is linked with thymine (A-T) and guanine is linked
with cytosine (G-C).
• The adjacent chains are linked by hydrogen bonds.
• Adenine of one chain is linked with the thymine of another
chain by two hydrogen bonds (A = T).
• Similarly, guanine of one chain is linked with the cytosine
of the second chain by three hydrogen bonds (G = C).
• The amount of adenine is equal to the amount of thymine
and the amount of guanine is equal to the amount of
cytosine.
• The two chains of a DNA are complementary to each other.
If the sequence of base in one chain is A, G, A, T, G, C, then
the sequence of base in the second chain is T, C, T, A, C, G.
• One end of the polynucleotide chain is called 3’, (3 prime end) and the
other end is called 5’, (5 prime end).
• In the 3’ end the third carbon of the sugar is free and it is not linked to
any nucleotide.
• In the 5’ end, the fifth carbon of the sugar is free and it is not linked to any
nucleotide.
• The 3’ end of one chain lies close to the 5’ end of the other chain and
never in the reverse condition.
• Hence the two strands of a DNA are called antiparallel strands.
• A DNA molecule looks like a ladder.
• The sugar and phosphate form the back bones and base-pairs form the
horizontal rings.
• A single DNA molecule may contain about 2000 base-pairs or nucleotides.
• The two complementary chains are twisted around each other to form a
double helix.
• One turn of helix measures about 34Ao.
• It contains 10 paired nucleotides. Distance between two base pairs is
3.4Ao.
• The width of the DNA helix is 20Ao.
 Structural variation in DNA

• In addition to the double helicular DNA, there are single stranded

DNA and circular shaped DNA having the same chemical
composition.
Single stranded DNA
• DNA of bacterial virus exists normally as single stranded molecules.
Such a type of DNA was isolated by Sincerer in 1959.
Circular DNA
• The circular DNA is characteristic of the cell organelle,
mitochondria.
• Mitochondria DNA differs from nuclear DNA in several aspects.
• The amount of genetic information carried by mitochondrial DNA is
not sufficient to provide specifications for all the proteins and
enzymes present in the organells.
 Replication of DNA

• Replication is the duplication process by which a DNA

molecule produces exact copies of its own structure.
• Replication occurs inside the chromosomes.
• It occurs during interphase.
• The parent DNA strands function as templates for the
synthesis of new DNA strands
• New DNA is produced by semiconservative process. Of
the two strands produced, one strand is the parental
strand and the second strand is newly synthesized.
• DNA replication requires the following
components:
DNA template DNA unwinding protein
A primer RNA Super helix relaxing
protein
dATP* RNA polymerase
dGTP* DNA polymerase
dTTP* Ligase
dCTP* Deoxyribonuclease
Mg++ Helicase
• Replication starts at a specific point called origin.
• At the site of origin, the two strands separate.
This separation is brought about by helicase.
• At the point where the two strands are
separated, a replicating fork is formed.
• The fork appears in the form of the letter Y.
• The duplication of DNA is brought about by the
movement of the replication fork.
• The separated DNA strands act as templates.
• DNA synthesis requires a primer.
• Primer is a short RNA polynucleotide chain.
• The primer RNA is synthesized by the DNA
template close to the origin of replication.
• It is synthesized by RNA polymerase.
• Synthesis of the new DNA strand takes place by the
DNA nucleotides to the 3’ OH group of the last
ribonucleotide of the RNA primer.
• This leads to the elongation of the primer nucleotide
in the 5’ – 3’ direction.
• This is catalyzed by the enzyme DNA polymerase III.
• In one parent DNA strand, the daughter strand is
synthesized as a continuous strand.
• This strand is called leading strand because it is
synthesized first.
• In the second DNA strand, the daughter strand begins
slightly later. Hence this daughter strand is called
lagging strand.
• The lagging strand is synthesized in short fragments
called Okazaki fragments.
• The enzyme DNA ligase joins the Okazaki fragments
into a long polynucleotide chain.
• The RNA primer is degraded at the end of replication..
• Replication may occur in one direction from the point
of origin or in both directions.
• When replication occurs in only one direction, it is
called unidirectional replication.
• When replication occurs in both directions, it is called
bidirectional replication.
• The newly formed chain is exactly complementary to
the template chain.
• In replication both strands are involved.
• The synthesis occurs in the 5’-3’ direction in both
strands.
• In one strand it goes from left to right and in the other
strand in the reverse direction.
 Types of DNA Replication
There are three types of DNA replication.
They are following:
• Semi conservative method
• Conservative method
• Dispersive method
 Semi Conservative Method
• This method of DNA replication was proposed by Watson
and Crick.
• In this method one strand of the DNA molecule serves as a
template for the synthesis of a new complementary chain.
• So during replication one strand of the parent molecule is
incorporated in the daughter molecule and another strand
is assembled a new.
• As one strand of the parent molecule is conserved in the
daughter molecule, this method is called semi conservative
method.
• This method is universally accepted and is experimentally
supported by Meselson and Stahl.
 Conservative method

• This method was proposed by cavalieri and Rosenberg.

• According to this method the DNA strands do not
separate.
• The two strands act as a template and produce a new
daughter double strand.
• Thus of the two double helixes formed, one would be
entirely of old material and the other double helix
would be entirely of old material and other double
helixes formed, one would be entirely of old material
and the other double helix would be entirely of new
material.
 Dispersive Method
• According to this method the parent DNA
molecule breaks down into small pieces.
• Each piece synthesizes a small DNA molecule.
• Then the daughter DNA molecule assempled by
the linking of the old and new pieces at random.
• As the pieces of parent DNA molecule remain
scattered in the daughter DNA molecule, this
method is called dispersed method of replication.
Enzymes Involved in DNA Replication

• Two types of enzymes are necessary for DNA

synthesis and they are
• DNA polymerase or Korn Berg Polymerase
• DNA ligase or Polynucleotide ligase.
• DNA polymerase is a DNA synthesizing
enzyme. It was discovered by Kornberg in
1957.
• There are types of DNA polymerase in
prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
• The polymerases of prokaryotes are named as
• Polymerase I
• Polymerase II
• Polymerase III
• The polymerases of eukaryotes are called
• α polymerase
• β polymerase
• γ polymerase
• The polymerases are involved in three types of
activities, namely
• Synthesis of DNA
• Repair of DNA
• Breakdown of DNA
• Polymerase I is a single stranded polypeptide chain. It has a molecular
weight of 1,09,000. It has one atom of Zn.
• Polymerase I has four activities, namely
• Polymerization 5’ 3’ – 1000 nucleotides per minute
• Exo-nuclease activity 3’ 5’
• Exo-nuclease activity 5’ 3’
• Repair of DNA.
• Polymerase II is a single stranded polypeptide chain. It has a molecular
weight of 90,000. It has three activities, namely
• Polymerization – 50 nucleotides per minute
• Exo-nuclease activity 3’ 3’ 5’
• Repair of DNA.
• Polymerase III consists of two polypeptide chains. The molecular weights
are 1,40,000 and 40,000. It has two activities.
• 1. polymerization – 15,000 nucleotides per minute
• 2. Exo- nuclease activity 3’ 5’
• Polymerase III is more efficient in synthesizing DNA. It can polymerize
15,000 nucleotides per minute. But polymerase I can polymerize 1000
nucleotides and polymerase II can polymerize only 50 nucleotides.
 DNA ligases
• DNA ligase is an enzyme that joins the ends of two duplex DNAs to make a
long DNA.
• This process is called ligation.
• It cannot add any nucleotide to a gap in the DNA. It seals the nick by
establishing a covalent bond between 5’- phosphate group and 3’-OH
group at the nick.
• The bond is called phosphodiester bond.
• This enzyme never seals the nick, if there is no 5’-phosphate group or if
one or more nucleotides are missing.
• DNA ligase isolated from E.coli requires ATP and NAD+ for enzyme activity.
• However, DNA ligase of lambda T4 phage requires ATP alone to catalyse
the ligation.
• This enzyme is called T4 DNA ligase.
• It is 68,000 daltons inmolecular weight.
• It has the ability to join cohesive and blunt ended DNA fragments.
• So it is being used in genetic engineering to join blunt ended DNAs.
Uses :
1. DNA ligase is used to join a vector DNA and a
target DNA to construct recombinant DNA
2. It is used to join DNA fragments of different
organisms for making vectors with desired
characters.
3. It is used to add linker and adaptor sequences to
blunt ended vector DNA and target DNA.
4. It is used to join oligonucleotides together in the
chemical synthesis of DNA by ligase reaction (LCR).
 Functions of DNA
• DNA is acting as a cofactor in the nuclear aerobic synthesis
of ATP.
• Allfrey and Mirsky (1959) have shown that when a large
fraction of the DNA is removed from isolated nuclei, there
is a loss of capacity for ATP synthesis, amino acid
incorporation and for RNA synthesis.
• This loss can be reversed by the addition of DNA, RNA
polyadenylic acid and a number of non-nucleotides such as
heparin and chondroitin sulphate.
• These results have been explained on the basis that DNA
facilitates ATP synthesis, which in turn is necessary for the
production of RNA and protein in the nucleus.
• DNA replicates itself accurately.
• It has got the potentially to carry out all kinds of necessary
biological informations.
 Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)
• Ribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid containing ribose sugar.
• It is found in large amount in the cytoplasm and at a lesser amount in the nucleus.
• In the cytoplasm it is mainly found in the ribosomes and in the nucleus it is mainly
found in the nucleolus.
• RNA is formed of a single strand.
• It consists of several units called ribo-nucleotides.
• Hence each RNA molecule is formed of several nucleotides.
• Each nucleotide is formed of three different molecules, namely phosphate, ribose
sugar and nitrogen base.
• The nitrogen bases are of two types, namely purines and pyrimidines. The purines
present in the RNA are adenine and guanine.
• The pyrimidines present in RNA are cytosine and uracil.
• The RNA molecule is single stranded.
• Some times the strand may be folded back upon itself and this double strand may
be coiled to form a helical structure like that of DNA.
• In RNA the purines and pyrimidines are not present in equal amount.
• There are three types of RNA.
• They are the following:
• Messenger RNA (mRNA)
• Transfer RNA (tRNA)
• Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
 Messenger RNA (m RNA)
• Messenger RNA is a ribo nucleic acid which carries genetic information for
protein synthesis from the DNA to the cytoplasm.
• The term mRNA was coined by Jacob and Monad in 1961.
• The mRNA forms about 3 to 5% of the total cellular RNA.
• The mRNA is synthesized as a complementary strand upon the
chromosomal DNA.
• The genetic message from DNA is transcribed to the mRNA.
• The mRNA carries the message in the form of triplet codes.
• The hybrid mRNA inside the nucleus is called heterogeneous nuclear RNA
(hn RNA).
• It is processed in the nucleus and enters the cytoplasm through nuclear
membrane.
• In the cytoplasm mRNAs are deposited on some ribosomes.
• In the ribosomes mRNA acts as a template for protein synthesis.
• Monocistronic mRNA:

• It is formed from a single cistron (functional gene) and it codes for a single

polypeptide chain.

• The eukaryotic mRNAs are monocistronic. A cistron is a DNA segment

corresponding to one polypeptide chain.

• Polycistronic mRNA: A polycistronic mRNA is formed from many cistrons

and encodes several different polypeptide chains. The prokaryotic mRNA

are polycistronic.
Structure of mRNA

• mRNA is the messenger RNA.

• It is ribonucleic acid carrying information from the DNA to the cytoplasm.

• The mRNA is a single stranded polynucleotide chain.

• The mRNA contains phosphoric acid, ribose sugars, purines, namely

adenine and guanine and pyrimidines, namely cytosine and uracil.

• The mRNA carries genetic informations from DNA. The genetic information

carried by the mRNA is called genetic code.

• The genetic code is the sequence of nitrogen bases in mRNA. The genetic

code is formed of several codons.

• Each codon is a sequence of three nitrogen bases which codes for one

amino acid.
Cont ….
• As each codon is formed of three nitrogen bases, it is called a triplet code.

Among RNAs, mRNA is the longest one.

• Most of the mRNAs contain 900 to 15,000 nucleotides.

• Each mRNA contains the codons for one polypeptide chain.

• If the mRNA contains 900 nucleotides the polypeptide chain synthesized by

this mRNA will contain 300 amino acids.

• One end of mRNA is called 5’ end and the other end is called 3’ end.

• At the 5’ end a cap is found inmost eukaryotes and animal viruses. The cap

is formed by the condensation of a guanylate residue.

• The cap helps the Mrna to bind with ribosomes.

• The cap is followed by a on-coding region 1.
• It does not contain code (message) for protein and hence it cannot translate
protein.
• It is formed of 10 to 100 nucleotides and is rich in A and U residues.
• The non-coding region is followed by the initiation codon.
• It is made up of AUG.
• The initiation codon is followed by the coding region which contains the
code for protein.
• It has an average of 1,500 nucleotides.
• The coding region is followed by a termination codon.
• It completes the translation.
• It is made up of UAA or UAG or UGA in eukaryotes.
• The termination codon is followed by a non-coding region 2 (NC2).
• It has a nucleotide sequence of AAUAAA.
• At the 3’ end of mRNA, there is olyadenylate sequence (plyA). It consists of
200 to 250 adenylate nucleotides (AAAAA…).
• But as the age increases, the poly A shortens.
• mRNA is synthesized from a DNA strand through the action of an enzyme
called RNA polymerase. The synthesis of mRNA is called transcription.
• mRNA carries the genetic information in the form of triplet code from the
DNA. The code decides the type of protein to be synthesized.
Transfer RNA (tRNA)
• Transfer RNA is a nucleic acid which transports amino
acids to the site of protein synthesis. Hence it is called
transfer RNA. It is also called soluble RNA. tRNA has
the following salient features:
• It is a single stranded RNA.
• It is smaller than mRNA.
• It transports amino acids to the site of protein
synthesis.
• Each tRNA transports only one variety of amino acid.
• There are about 60 types of tRNA. As there are only 20
types of amino acids, certain amino acids are carried by
more than one tRNA.
• The tRNA is formed of small units called nucleotides.
There are about 75 to 80 nucleotides in a tRNA.
 Cont….
• The tRNA contains phosphoric acid, ribose sugar,
pruines ( adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines
(cystosine and uracil).
• The tRNA is folded on itself to form a clover leaf-
like structure. It has two terminal ends, there
main loops and one mini loop.
• tRNA has four main regions, namely
1. Accept arm or Aminoacid binding sit.
2. D arm or Enzyme site.
3. Tψ*C arm or Ribosome site
4. Anticodon arm or Recognition site.
 Cont…….
• Each amino acid is activated by a specific enzyme.
• This activating enzyme is attached to a main loop of tRNA. Hence
this site is called enzyme site.
• It recognizes, catalyzes and picks up the appropriate amino acid
from the cytoplasm.
• The activated amino acid is attached to the carrier site.
• The carrier site is located at one terminal end.
• It is the 3’ end. It has 2 free-OH group of ribose sugar.
• It is common for all t RNA molecules.
• The terminal loop of tRNA contains a sequence of three nitrogen
bases. It is called anticodon. The anticodon is complementary to a
codon in the mRNA. The tRNA is temporarily attached to the mRNA
at this site and it reads the sequence of bases of mRNA. Hence
tRNA is described as the reader of the letters written in the mRNA.
• The tRNA is attached to the ribosome through one main loop.
Hence this region of tRNA is called ribosome site.
• One terminal end of the tRNA is the 5’ end. It carries a guanine
carrying nucleotide.
• The tRNA contains certain rare andunusual nitrogen bases, namely
pseudouridine, methylguaine, methylamino purine, inosinic acid,
etc.
• Transfer RNAs are more stable.
• They are synthesized from the DNA of chromosomes.
• They contain unusually high C-G base pairing.
• A tRNA is charged with the aminoacid corresponding to its
anticodon and it becomes aminoacyl tRNA. The aminoacid is linked
by an ester bond from its carboxyl group to a hydroxyl group of the
ribose of the last base of the tRNA (which is always adenine).
• The process of charging the tRNA to from aminoacyl-tRNA is
catalyzed by a specific enzyme, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase. There
are 20 aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.
 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
• Ribosomal RNA is a ribonucleic acid present in the
ribosomes and hence it is called ribosomal RNA. It is
also called insoluble RNA. It constitutes about 80% of
the cellular RNA.
• The ribosomal RNA is formed of a single strand. It is a
polynucleotide chain. Each strand is formed of many
nucleotide units. Each nucleotide is formed of three
different molecules namely a phosphate, a ribose sugar
and a nitrogen base.
• The nitrogen bases are of two types, namely purines
and pyrimidines. The purines present in the rRNA are
adenine and guanine. The pyrimidines present in rRNA
are cytosine and uracil.
 Functions of RNA
• RNA has the following functions:
– RNAs are the main components of protein
synthesis.
– In many viruses the RNA functions as the genetic
material.
– The rRNA present in the chromatin fibres initiates
the replication of DNA.
Sl. DNA RNA
No.
1. It is mainly confined to the nucleus. A small quantity It is mainly occurs in the cytoplasm. A small quantity is found in the
occurs in mitochondria and chloroplasts. nucleus.
2. Its quantity is constant in each cell of a species. Its quantity varies in different cells.

3. It contains deoxyribose sugar. It contains ribose sugar.

4. Its pyrimidines are cytosine and thymine. Its pyrimidines are cytosine and uracil.

5. The amount of adenine is equal to the amount of thymine, Cytosine and uracil are not necessarily in equal amounts, the cytosine
also the amount of cytosine is equal to the amount of and guanine are also not necessarily in equal amounts.
guanine.

6. It consists of 2 polynucleotide chains coiled into a double It consists of a single polynucleotide chain. It may fold on itself and
helix. get coiled into a pseudohelix.

7. Its molecular weight varies from 2 to 6 million. Its molecular weight varies from 25,000 to 2 million.

8. It is of 2 types: linear intranuclear and circular It is of 3 types: mRNA, tRNA, rRNA. Each type is further of many
extranuclear. subtypes.
9. It can replicate itself. It cannot replicate itself.

10. It controls structure, metabolism, heredity, differentiation It brings about protein synthesis. It also starts replication.
and evolution.
11. It is a component of chromosomes. It is a component of ribosomes.

12. It is a genetic material in all organisms. It is a genetic material certain viruses.

 Properties of Nucleic Acid

• Nucleic acids are insoluble in alcohol, slightly soluble in cold water, but
readily dissolved in hot water and dilute alkalies, forming alkali salts.
• They are dilute alkali, forming alkali salts.
• They are precipitated by HCL and by excess of acetic acid.
• Feulgen test differentiates the DNA from RNA, if the deoxyribose sugar is
present, a red colour is produced with the dye. Ribose sugar do not exhibit
this reaction.
• Hydrolysis of nucleic acids gives nucleotide, which can be considered the
units that make up the polymer.
• DNA is the chemical basis of heredity and may be regarded as the reserve
of genetic information.
• The proteins are synthesized by various RNA molecules in the cell but the
message for the synthesis of a particular protein is present in DNA.
• DNA is exclusively responsible for maintaining the identity of different
species of organisms over millions of years.