BIOCHEMIST

RY
19- Nucleic
acids
PRESENTED BY:
DR. MOHAMMED SALEH
MBCHB
Dr. Mohammed
Saleh
MBChB
Baghdad University

Peaks Medical Academy

2
Nucleic acids
Structure & Examples
The DNA
■ The genetic information is coded
along the length of a polymeric
molecule composed of only four
types of monomeric units.
■ This polymeric molecule,
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), is
the chemical basis of heredity and
is organized into genes, the
fundamental units of genetic
information.
■ DNA directs the synthesis of
RNA, which in turn directs protein
synthesis.
Chemical structure of DNA
■ Each DNA strand is a polymer of
deoxyribonucleoside
monophosphates (or
deoxyribonucleotides) covalently
linked by 3′→5′–phosphodiester
bonds.
■ With the exception of a few viruses
that contain single-stranded (ss)
DNA, DNA exists as a double-
stranded (ds) molecule, in which the
two strands wind around each other,
forming a double helix.
 Base composition:
■ The chemical nature of base of DNA are:
– Adenine
– Cytosine
– Guanine
– Thymine
■ These monomeric units of DNA are held in
polymeric form by 3',5'-phosphodiester bridges
constituting a single strand.
■ The informational content of DNA (the
genetic code) resides in the sequence in which
these monomers—purine and pyrimidine
deoxyribonucleotides—are ordered.
3′→5′-Phosphodiester bonds
■ Phosphodiester bonds join the 3′-hydroxyl group of the
deoxypentose of one nucleotide to the 5′-hydroxyl group of the
deoxypentose of an adjacent nucleotide through a phosphate
group.
■ The resulting long, unbranched chain has polarity, with both a
5′-end (the end with the free phosphate) and a 3′-end (the
end with the free hydroxyl) that are not attached to other
nucleotides.
■ The bases located along the resulting deoxyribose–phosphate
backbone are always written in sequence from the 5′-end of the
chain to the 3′-end.
Structure of Nucleic Acids
■ The primary structure of a
nucleic acid is the nucleotide
sequence.
■ The nucleotides in nucleic
acids are joined by
phosphodiester bonds.
■ The 3’-OH group of the sugar
in one nucleotide forms an ester
bond to the phosphate group on
the 5’-carbon of the sugar of
the next nucleotide.
■ A molecule of DNA is
formed by millions of
nucleotides joined
together in a long
chain.
Reading DNA Structure
■ A nucleic acid polymer has a free 5’-
phosphate group at one end and a free 3’-
OH group at the other end
■ The sequence is read from the free 5’-end
using the letters of the bases.
■ This example reads
– 5’—T—A—C—G—3’
– “thymine, adenine, cytosine, guanine”
Double helix
■ In the double helix, the two chains are
coiled around a central axis.
■ The chains are paired in an antiparallel
manner, that is, the 5′-end of one strand is
paired with the 3′-end of the other strand.
■ The spatial relationship between the two
strands in the helix creates a major (wide)
groove and a minor (narrow) groove.
■ These groove are a site for the binding of
regulatory proteins along the DNA chain.
Base pairing
■ The bases of one strand of DNA are
paired with the bases of the second
strand, so that an adenine is always
paired with a thymine and a
cytosine is always paired with a
guanine.
■ One polynucleotide chain of the DNA
double helix is always the
complement of the other.
■ Once the sequence of bases on one
chain are known, the sequence of
bases on the complementary chain can
be determined.
Base pairing
■ The base pairs are held
together by hydrogen
bonds: two hydrogen bonds
between A and T and three
hydrogen bonds between G
and C.
■ These hydrogen bonds, plus
the hydrophobic interactions
between the bases, stabilize
the structure of the double
helix.
Chargaff Rule:
■ In any sample of DNA, the
amount of adenine equals the
amount of thymine, the
amount of guanine equals the
amount of cytosine, and the
total amount of purines
equals the total amount of
pyrimidines.
■ The base pairs are held
together by hydrogen bonds:
two between A and T and
three between G and C.
THANK YOU
Dr. Mohammed Saleh