NUCLEIC ACIDS

Free pyrimidine and purine bases may exist in two or more tautomeric
forms depending on the pH. Uracil, for example, occurs in lactam, lactim,
and double lactim forms
base-stacking interactions are very important in stabilizing the three-
dimensional structure of nucleic acids
Friedrich Miescher-nuclein, from the nuclei of pus cells (leukocytes
Oswald T. Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty- Streptococcus
pneumoniae,
Avery and his colleagues extracted the DNA from heat-killed virulent
pneumococci, removing the protein as completely as possible, and added
this DNA to nonvirulent bacteria. The DNA gained entrance into the
nonvirulent bacteria, which were permanently transformed into a virulent
strain.
Alfred D. Hershey and Martha Chase- used radioactive phosphorus (32P)
and radioactive sulfur (35S)
FIGURE 819 Comparison of A, B, and Z forms of DNA
Palindrome-form hairpin or cruciform (cross-shaped)
mirror repeat-cannot form hairpin or cruciform structures.
cytidine residue (if protonated) can pair with the guanosine residue of a
GqC nucleotide pair, and a thymidine can pair with the adenosine of an AUT
pair
The N-7, O6, and N6 of purines, the atoms that participate in the hydrogen
bonding of triplex DNA, are often referred to as Hoogsteen positions, and
the non-Watson-Crick pairing is called Hoogsteen pairing,
The triplexes shown in Figure 822 (a, b) are most stable at low pHbecause
the CqG C triplet requires a protonated cytosine.
In the triplex, the pKa of this cytosine is 7.5, altered from its normal value
of 4.2.
 Two of the three strands in the H-DNA triple helix contain pyrimidines and
the third contains purines. H-DNA, is found in polypyrimidine or polypurine
tracts that also incorporate a mirror repeat.
If it carries the code for only one polypeptide, the mRNA is monocistronic if
it codes for two or more different polypeptides, the mRNA is polycistronic.
In eukaryotes, most mRNAs are monocistronic.
RNA has no simple, regular secondary structure that serves as a reference
point, as does the double helix for DNA. The three-dimensional structures
of many RNAs, like those of proteins, are complex and unique.
. Breaks in the regular A-form helix caused by mismatched or unmatched
bases in one or both strands are common and result in bulges or internal
loops. Hairpin loops form between nearby self-complementary sequences.
hairpins are the most common type of secondary structure in RNA.
Denaturation of a double-stranded nucleic acid produces the opposite
result: an increase in absorption called the hyperchromic effect
RNA duplexes are more stable than DNA duplexes.
Some Bases of DNA Are Methylated- All known DNA methylases use
Sadenosylmethionine as a methyl group donor. Adenine and cytosine are
methylated more often than guanine and thymine
restriction-modification system- E. coli has two prominent methylation
systems. One serves as part of a defense mechanism that helps the cell to
distinguish its DNA from foreign DNA by marking its own DNA with methyl
groups and destroying (foreign) DNA without the methyl groups
Methylation suppresses the migration of segments of DNA called
transposons,
Nucleotides Carry Chemical Energy in Cells
Adenine Nucleotides Are Components of Many Enzyme Cofactors