biological functions of nucleic acids

(1975) Science 187, 2735. An additional phosphate group from ATP is then added by another kinase to form a deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate, the immediate precursor of DNA. Both sequence specificity and interaction (whether covalent or not) with a small compound or a protein can induce tilt, roll and twist effects that rotate the base pairs in the x, y, or z axis, respectively as seen in Figure \(\PageIndex{15}\), and can therefore change the helixs overall organization. However, the A-form of the double helix can occur in vivo when RNA adopts a double stranded conformation, or when RNA-DNA complexes form. The * between in the G*G and A*A denote Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding (purine motifs) in this intramolecular triple helix. Figure \(\PageIndex{23}\): The wobble uridine (U34) of tRNA molecules that recognize both AAand AG-ending codons for Lys, Gln, and Glu, is modified by the addition of both a thiol (s2) and a methoxy-carbonyl-methyl (mcm5). Lewin, B., Gene Expression. In this article we summarise the structure and function of nucleic acids. Maniatis, T. Ptashne, M., Backmann, K., Kleid, D., Flashman, S., Jeffrey, A., Maurer, R. (1975) Cell 5, 109113. Also, AT/GC are found in DNA while RNA is made from AU/GC. DNA is common to all organisms, all organisms use the same 4 nitrogenous bases, A T, C G. Entirely true. carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, is the general term for carbohydrates composed of two monosaccharides. The Function of DNA & RNA. The peptide is shown in cyan and its arginine side chains are shown as cyan lines. Nucleic acids consist of a series of linked nucleotides. The extension caused by these ethers and natural extensions would decrease base stacking but appear at the same time strengthening the hydrogen bonding between bases. 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The triphosphate group structure accounts for the energy released by ATP hydrolysis and the other nucleoside triphosphates. Nucleic acids are the main information-carrying molecules of the cell, and, by directing the process of protein synthesis, they determine the inherited characteristics of every living thing. Would it be possible for there to be nitrogenous bases with more than two fused carbon rings? In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. These can be formed in DNA and RNA from G-rich sequences involving tetrads of guanine bases that are hydrogen bonded. 10.1093/nar/gkz237. The hydrogen bond interaction energy is hence more favorable in the stack. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03516-1Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For example, the HIV Rev peptide binds to a target site in the envelop gene of HIV (which has an RNA genome) and leads to the formation of an RNA loop with hydrogen bonding between two purines. 2) DNA is just for storage. The double stranded helix of DNA is not always stable. Dhar, R., Weissman, S.M., Zain, B.S., Pan, J., Lewis, A.M. jr. (1974) Nucl. The triple helical structure of nucleic acids was discovered ~30 years ago and has potential importance in biological functions.1 X-ray diffraction data for polynucleotide triplex fibers provided a basic structural scheme for pyrimidine-purine-pyrimidine triplexes. Figure \(\PageIndex{22}\): Wobble bases pairs using hypoxanthine with the base inosine. What nitrogen-containing bases occur in nucleic acids? The term G-protein actually comes from the G in GTP the same G thats found in the genetic code. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please refer to our Nucleic Acid Structure article for more information. Some RNA molecules have catalytic activity intrinsic to them. CrossRef This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution. Despite their great variety, the cells of all living organisms contain only a few groups of carbon-based compounds that interact in similar ways. Check out this, Posted 7 years ago. It can mean something as simple as the sequence of nucleotides in a piece of DNA, or something as complex as the way that DNA molecule folds and how it interacts with other molecules. (ii) Nucleic acids (both DNA and RNA) are responsible for protein synthesis in a cell. Biologydictionary.net, September 07, 2017. https://biologydictionary.net/nucleic-acid/. These are just some examples out of many types of noncoding and regulatory RNAs. The . The nucleic acids are vital biopolymers found in all living things, where they function to encode, transfer, and express genes. The primary purines are adenine and guanine in both RNA and DNA. The double-helix model of DNA structure was first published in the journal Nature by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953,(X,Y,Z coordinates in 1954) based upon the crucial X-ray diffraction image of DNA from Rosalind Franklin in 1952, followed by her more clarified DNA image with Raymond Gosling, Maurice Wilkins, Alexander Stokes, and Herbert Wilson, and base-pairing chemical and biochemical information by Erwin Chargaff. How Nucleic Acids Work They can induce kinking of the DNA near the major grove. Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\) shows an interactive iCn3D model of the tertiary structure of the T4 hairpin loop on a Z-DNA stem (1D16). (iii) RNAs are involved in the expression of genetic code of DNA by forming specific protein. Hence they can occur naturally. For example, amino acids have different side chains that can interact with each other to form the specific 3D structure of a protein. Figure \(\PageIndex{19}\): Some noncanonical base nucleic acid base pairs. Ed. A creationist would say that this is part of the intelligent design. The tRNA that binds, and thus the amino acid that's added, at a given moment is determined by the sequence of the mRNA that is being "read" at that time. John's University and Western Oregon University, Additional Alternative Structures: Quadruplexes and Triple Helices, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDNA_RNA-EN.svg, https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:D_structure.svg, https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleic_acid_sequence, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ib5HUbmuQrCobg8, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/i8C7qBqgh8ZTJH9, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/iZtdeJqQXvjCKfA, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/icn3d/share.html?WQWkYi1FrM4DSY2i7, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/i5kLYSSfG7rsmS9, https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_and_Z-DNA.png, Lenglet and David-Cordonnier (2010) Journal of Nucleic Acids, http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2010/290935, ://x3dna.org/highlights/schematiair-parameters, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/iT8CJ3pCe986Vx9, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/iLtwfzyeqDCaPEA, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ireyeD6JQM1djq6, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03221-z, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03516-1Creative, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/iSLLRv1m8HQXKcA, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/iy5joFHDgWJQsQ6, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://structure.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/i5JU813eNjND8E7, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fomosome_en.svg, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303846502_Metal_ion_induced_heterogeneity_in_RNA_folding_studied_by_smFRET, https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Genetics/Book%3A_Working_with_Molecular_Genetics_(Hardison)/Unit_I%3A_Genes%2C_Nucleic_Acids%2C_Genomes_and_Chromosomes/2%3A_Structures_of_Nucleic_Acids/2.5%3A_B-Form%2C_A-Form%2C_and_Z-Form_of_DNA, https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jna/2010/290935/, https://www.mechanobio.info/genome-regulation/what-are-chromosomes-and-chromosome-territories/, https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project, https://en.Wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=DNA&oldid=905364161, https://www.wikilectures.eu/w/Prokaryotic_Chromosomes, avatar@https://bio.libretexts.org/@api/deki/files/67680/Patty_Flatt.jpg, status page at https://status.libretexts.org. A group of three nucleotides is called a codon. The structure of RNA has evolved to serve those added functions. It is the source of information for the synthesis of all cell and organism protein molecules, and it provides the information that daughter cells or offspring have inherited. The A-T bond strands also signal where DNA needs to separate for commonly transcribed genes, such as the TATA Box commonly found just before the beginning of gene sequences. The fact that RNA can act both as hereditary material and an enzyme strengthens the case for the idea that the very first life might have been a self-replicating, self-catalyzing RNA molecule. The thymine bases 7, 8 and 9 are generally perpendicular to one another and stack together, along with the ribose of T7. Pseudoknots can be found in mRNA and in ribosomal RNA and affect the translation of the RNA (decoding to instruct the synthesis of a protein sequence). DNA reserves genetic information and is responsible for maintaining the identity of species over the centuries. It is not surprising, given the enormity of the functions of DNA in the human body and its responsibility for the growth and maintenance of life that the discovery of DNA has led to so many developments in the treatment of various types of diseases. Reverse Watson Crick: The reverse Watson-Crick AT (AU) and GC pairs can sometimes be found at the end of DNA strands and also in RNA. Gene structure. Cold Spring Harbor Monograph Series, Cold Spring Harb. Instead the molecule folds on itself in 3D space to form complex tertiary structure containing regions of helical secondary structure. Nucleic acids include DNA and RNA. For some animal and plant viruses, the genetic material is RNA rather than DNA. Alongside proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), nucleic acids are one of the four major types of macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life. The twist angles A, B and Z DNA are +33o, +36 o, and -30o, respectively. When our cells join nucleotides together to form the polymers called nucleic acids, it bonds them by replacing the oxygen molecule of the 3 sugar of one nucleotides backbone with the oxygen molecule of another nucleotides 5 sugar. Human genome. An evolutionist would say it's all down to chance. We will consider four different types of noncanonical base pairing: reverse Watson Crick, wobble, Hoogsteen and reverse Hoogsteen base pairs. The propellor angles for A, B and Z DNA are +18o, + 16 +/-7 o, and about 0o, respectively. Typically, a nucleic acid is a large molecule made up of a string, or polymer, of units called nucleotides. All life on Earth uses nucleic acids as their medium for recording hereditary information that is nucleic acids are the hard drives containing the essential blueprint or source code for making cells. Will the molecular structure of DNA become like RNA? The 5' sugar-phosphate end of the of each chain are shown in spacefill and colored magenta (chain A) and cyan (chain B). Biology, 21.06.2019 20:40. This may seem paradoxical, especially given the apparently simplicity of the iconic structure of DNA presented in textbooks. An example of a triple helix system that has been studied in vitro is shown in Figure \(\PageIndex{28}\). If one considers RNA and protein binding as a coupled equilibrium, it should be clear that protein binding to RNA might also induce conformation changes, specifically noncanonical base pairs, in the RNA. Acids Res 1, 577594. DNA must be stabile enough to be the carrier of genetic information but dynamic enough to allow events that required partial unfolding. Biological databases are stores of biological information. Triple helices can form when single stranded DNA formed during replication, transcription or DNA repair with half of the required mirror symmetry folds back into the adjacent major grove and base pairs using Hoogsteen/reverse Hoogsteen bonding, which can be stabilized by Mg2+. Retrieved 15:18, July 23, 2019, from en.Wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chromosome&oldid=907355235, Wikilectures. For instance, some genes specify, DNA and RNA are polymers (in the case of DNA, often very long polymers), and are made up of monomers known as. These nucleoside linkages are called phosphodiester bonds and are the same in RNA and DNA.

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