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
