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DNA

DNA stands for deoxyribose nucleic acid

This chemical substance is present in the nucleus
of all cells in all living organisms
DNA controls all the chemical changes which
take place in cells
The kind of cell which is formed, (muscle, blood,
nerve etc) is controlled by DNA
The kind of organism which is produced (buttercup,
giraffe, herring, human etc) is controlled by DNA

DNA molecule

DNA is a very large molecule made up of a long

chain of sub-units
The sub-units are called nucleotides
Each nucleotide is made up of
a sugar called(Pentose)
a phosphate group -PO4 and
an organic base

THE SUGARS:RIBOSE & DEOXYRIBOSE

Ribose is a sugar, with only five
carbon atoms in its molecule

Deoxyribose is almost the same but lacks one

oxygen atom at C2
Both molecules may be represented by the symbol

Organic Bases

The nucleotide bases found in nucleic acids are related either

to the purine or pyrimidine ring system.
Both DNA and RNA contain two major purine bases, adenine (A)
and guanine (G), and two major pyrimidines.
In both DNA and RNA one of the pyrimidines is cytosine (C), but
the second major pyrimidine is not the same in both: it is
thymine (T) in DNA and uracil (U) in RNA.

 The Adenine and guanine are known as

PURINES
The Thymine and cytosine are known as
PYRIMIDINES, in RNA instead of thymine
it is Uracil
Adenine pairs with guanine forming two
hydrogen bonds
Thymine pairs with Guanine forming with
three hydrogen bonds

Purines

Pyrimidines

Purines are double ringed structures

Pyrimidines are single ringed

structures

Example of purine bases are

Adenine and Guanine

Example of pyrimidine bases are

Thymine and Cytosine( in DNA),
Uracil and cytosine ( in RNA)

Nucleotide and Nucleoside

Nucleotides Are the Monomeric Units of Nucleic Acids

A unit consisting of a base bonded to a sugar is referred to as a nucleoside.
The four nucleoside units in RNA are called adenosine, guanosine, cytidine,
and uridine, whereas those in DNA are called deoxyadenosine, deoxyguanosine,
deoxycytidine, and thymidine.
A nucleotide is a nucleoside joined to one or more phosphate groups by an
ester linkage

NUCLEOTIDES
The deoxyribose, the phosphate and one of the bases
Combine to form a nucleotide
PO4
adenine

deoxyribose

STRUCTURE OF DEOXYRIBONUCLEOTIDE
AND RIBONUCLEOTIDE

NUCLEOSIDE

NUCLEOTIDE

Nucleoside is a component formed by

the union of a nitrogen base with a
pentose sugar

Nucleotide is a component formed

by the union of a nitrogen base, a
pentose sugar and phosphate

It is a component of nucleotide

It formed after phosphorylation of

nucleoside

ROLE OF PHOSPHODIESTER
LINKAGE
Phosphodiester
Bonds
Link
Successive Nucleotides in Nucleic
Acids
The successive nucleotides of both
DNA and RNA are covalently
linked through phosphate-group
bridges, in which the 5phosphate group of one nucleotide
unit is joined to the 3-hydroxyl
group of the next nucleotide,
creating a phosphodiester linkage .

The chain has a 5 end,

which is usually attached
to a phosphate, and a 3
end, which is usually a
free hydroxyl group

Joined nucleotides

PO4

A molecule of
DNA is formed
by millions of
nucleotides
joined together
in a long chain

PO4

PO4

PO4

sugar-phosphate
backbone

+ bases

In fact, the DNA usually consists of a double

strand of nucleotides
The sugar-phosphate chains are on the outside
and the strands are held together by chemical
bonds between the bases

2-stranded DNA
PO4

PO4

PO4
PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4
PO4

PO4
PO4

PO4

PO4

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Bonding 2
PO4

PO4
adenine

thymine

PO4

PO4
cytosine

guanine

PO4
PO4

PO4

PO4

CHARGAFFS RULE:
It states that DNA from any cell of all organisms should
have a 1:1 ratio of pyrimidine and purine bases and more
specifically that the amount of guanine is equal to amount
of cytosine and amount of adenine is equal to amount of
thymine
%A=%T
%G=%C

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The paired strands are coiled into a spiral called

A DOUBLE HELIX

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THE DOUBLE
HELIX
bases

sugar-phosphate
chain

DNA STRUCTURE

 The two strands run antiparallely and are complimentary to each

other.
The coiling is right handed.
The major groove occurs where the backbones are far apart, the
minor groove occurs where they are close together.
The sugar-phosphate backbones are on the outside and, therefore,
the purine and pyrimidine bases lie on the inside of the helix.
Adenine always pairs with Thymine, Guanine binds with Cytosine
The bases are nearly perpendicular to the helix axis, and adjacent
bases are separated by 3.4 .
The helical structure repeats every 34 , so there are 10 bases (= 34
per repeat/3.4 per base) per turn of helix.
There is a rotation of 36 degrees per base (360 degrees per full
turn/10 bases per turn).
The diameter of the helix is 20 .

ANTIPARALLEL NATURE
The two strands of DNA are also antiparallel(run
in opposite directions) to one another.
A strand of DNA can have the direction 5'-3' or 3'5'.
One strand in the DNA molecule is 5'-3' and the
other strand is 3'-5'.

FUNCTIONS OF DNA:
It is the genetic material, therefore responsible for carrying
all the hereditary information.
It has property of replication essential for passing genetic
information from one cell to its daughters or from one
generation to next.
Crossing over produces recombination
Changes in sequence and no. of nucleotides causes
Mutation which is responsible for all variations and
formation of new species.
It controls all the metabolic reaction of cells through
RNAs and RNA directed synthesis of proteins.

COMPLEMENTARY
The two strands of DNA are complementary to
one another because of the properties of base
pairing:
A will only pair with T by two hydrogen
bonds
G will only pair with C by three hydrogen
bonds
For example: If one strand is ACGTA the
other strand is TGCAT