RIBONUCLIEC

ACID
WHAT IS RIBONUCLIEC
ACID?
Ribonucleic acid, or RNA is one of the three major
biological macromolecules that are essential for all
known forms of life (along with DNA and proteins).
A central tenet of molecular biology states that the
flow of genetic information in a cell is from DNA
through RNA to proteins: “DNA makes RNA makes
protein”.
 Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule
essential in various biological roles in coding,
decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA
and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids,
proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major
macromolecules essential for all known forms of life.
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is found mainly in the
cytoplasm of the cell although it is usually
synthesized in the nucleus.

RNA (ribonucleic acid) is made up of four

chemical bases, adenine (A), cytosine (C),
guanine (G) and uracil (U) connected by a
ribose backbone.
 There are three types of RNA: messenger
(m)RNA, transfer (t)RNA,and ribosomal (r)RNA.
Together, these serve to carry the genetic
information stored by DNA in the cell nucleus to
other parts of the cell where it is converted into
protein.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a subtype of RNA. An
mRNA molecule carries a portion of the DNA code
to other parts of the cell for processing. mRNA is
created during transcription. During the
transcription process, a single strand of DNA is
decoded by RNA polymerase, and mRNA is
synthesized. Physically, mRNA is a strand of
nucleotides known as ribonucleic acid, and is
single-stranded.
Transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) is a type of RNA
molecule that helps decode a messenger RNA
(mRNA) sequence into a protein. tRNAs function
at specific sites in the ribosome during translation,
which is a process that synthesizes a protein from
an mRNA molecule. Proteins are built from smaller
units called amino acids, which are specified by
three-nucleotide mRNA sequences called codons.
Each codon represents a particular amino acid,
and each codon is recognized by a specific tRNA.
The tRNA molecule has a distinctive folded
structure with three hairpin loops that form the
shape of a three-leafed clover.
 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA), molecule in cells that
forms part of the protein-synthesizing organelle
known as a ribosome and that is exported to the
cytoplasm to help translate the information in
messenger RNA (mRNA) into protein. The three
major types of RNA that occur in cells include
rRNA, mRNA, and transfer RNA (tRNA).