Nucleic Acids•The amino acid sequence of a polypeptide is programmed by genes.

•Genes consist of DNA, which is a polymer belonging to the class of compounds known as nucleic acids.

Function

• Direct growth and development of every living thing by means of a chemical code.

• Determine how the cell functions and what characteristics it has.

• Made up of long chains of linked subunits called nucleotides.

• Monomers of nucleic acids are nucleotides.

Nucleotide1. Sugar ( deoxyribose, ribose)2. Phosphate Group3. Nitrogen Base : Adenine Thymine

Cystosine Guanine

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Nucleic Acids Store and Transmit Hereditary Information

• The two types of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).

• They enable living organisms to reproduce their complex components from one generation to the next.

• DNA provides directions for its own replication.

DNA• Deoxyribonucleic

Acid• Main component of

genes, the hereditary material in all cells.

• Made up of Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, Cytosine.

• Two nucleotide chains joins together into a double helix.

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RNA• Contains instructions for

making proteins.• Made up of four

nucleotides acting as counterparts to the DNA.

• Consists of a single long chain of nucleotides.

• Made up of Adenine, Uracil, Cytosine and Guanine.

• A pyrimidine has a six-membered ring of carbon and nitrogenous atoms – they are cytosine, thymine, and uracil.

• Purines are larger and have a six-membered ring fused to a five-membered ring – adenine and guanine.

We Can Use DNA and Proteins As Tape Measures of Evolution

• Genes and their products document the hereditary background of an organism.

• Since DNA molecules are passed through generations, related individuals have greater similarities in their DNA than unrelated individuals do