Chapter 5 Presentation
Nucleic Acids
By: Sam Erlinger, Pieter Derdeyn, and Christian Probst
September 1st, 2011
Nucleic Acids
Nucleic acids store and transmit hereditary information
- Gene: unit of inheritance
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains information to run cell
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) transfers genetic information to ribosomes
Ribosomes synthesize proteins
Nucleotide Structure
3 groups of a nucleotide: - Nitrogenous base
Pyrimidine: cytosine (C), thymine (T), uracil (U) Purines: adenine (A), guanine (G)
- Pentose (sugar) Ribose Deoxyribose (lacks O atom)
- Phosphate group
Polymer Structure
Double Helix - Sugar phosphate backbone (covalent bonds) - Two strands held together by hydrogen bonds
between bases RNA is single stranded
Tracing Evolution
DNA sequencing can identify the sequence of bases
Degrees of similarity indicate how closely related two organisms are
Evolutionary trees are diagrams that show the evolutionary relatedness of different species over time
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