CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs

Ribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid containing

ribose sugar. It is found in large amount in
the cytoplasm and at a lesser amount in
the nucleus.
In the cytoplasm, it is mainly found in the
ribosomes and in the nucleus it is mainly
found in the nucleolus.
RNA is formed of a single strand. It consists
of several units called ribo nucleotides.
Each nucleotide is formed of three different
molecules, namely phosphate, ribose
sugar and nitrogen base.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
The nitrogen bases are of two types,
namely purines and pyrimidines.
The purines present in the RNA are
adenine and guanine. The
pyrimidines present in RNA are
cytosine and uracil
The RNA molecule is normally single
stranded. Sometimes the strand may
be folded back upon itself and this
double strand may be coiled to form a
helical structure like that of DNA.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
There are three types of
RNA. They are following
Messenger RNA (m RNA)
Transfer RNA (t RNA)
Ribosomal RNA (r RNA)
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Messenger RNA is a ribonucleic acid
which carries genetic information
for protein synthesis from the DNA
to the cytoplasm.
The term m RNA was coined by Jacob
and Monad in 1961. The m RNA
forms about 3 to 5% of the total
cellular RNA.
The m RNA is synthesized as a
complementary strand upon the
chromosomal DNA.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
The m RNA carries the message in the form of
triplet codes.
The hybrid mRNA inside the nucleus is called
heterogeneous nuclear RNA (hn RNA). It is
processed in the nucleus and enters the cytoplasm
through nuclear membrane.
In the cytoplasm mRNA are deposited on some
ribosomes.
In the ribosomes, mRNA acts as a template for
protein synthesis.
The life span of m RNA in bacteria is about 2
minutes. In eukaryotes it lives for few hours to a
few days. In the plant seeds, the m RNA is
stabilized for months or years
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Protein synthesis must be carried out with
in this life span. Based on the number of
genes from which an m RNA is formed on
the size of protein molecule synthesized,
two types of
mRNA are known they are
Monocistronic m RNA : It is formed from a
single cistrons (functional gene) and it
codes for a single polypeptide chain. The
eukaryotic mRNAs are monocistronic. A
citron is a DNA segment corresponding to
one polypeptide chain
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Poly cistronic mRNA : A
poly cistronic mRNA is
formed from many
cistrons and encodes
several different
polypeptide chains. Eg.
Prokaryotic m RNA.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Transfer RNA or Soluble RNA
The t RNA is a ribonucleic acid which transfers the
activated amino acids to the ribosomes to
synthesize the proteins.
It is so small that It remains in the supernatant
during centrifugation. Hence it is also called as
soluble RNA or supernatant RNA.
It serves as an adaptor molecule to attach amino
acids. Hence t RNA is also called Adapter RNA.
It constitutes 10% to 15% of the total weight of
RNA of the cell. It has a molecular weight of RNA
25000 to 30000 and a sedimentation coefficient of
3.8 Svedberg unit.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Holley (1965) worked out the nucleotide
sequence of t RNA.
The t RNA is made up to 73 to 95 nucleotide
units called ribonucleotide.
Each nucleotide unit is made up of three
components namely a phosphate, ribose
sugar and nitrogenous base such as
adenine, guanine, cytosine and uracil
The t RNA in the form of single polynucleotide
chain having 3 and 5 ends.
The polynucleotide chian of t RNA is folded on
itself and attains the shape of a clover leaf.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
The 3 and 5 ends of t RNA lie side by side as a result
of folding.
The 3 end always end in CCA base sequence. This
is the site for the attachment of activated amino acid.
The 5 end terminates in G or C. The t RNA has five
arms they are
Amino acid acceptor arm B) D armc) Anticodon arm
D) Variable arm
(E) T C arm.
Each arm is made up of stem and loop. But the amino
acid acceptor arm has no loop; the variable arm has
no stem.
In the stem, the bases pair with each other (A-U and
G-C) There is no base pairing in the loops.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Aminoacid acceptor Arm : In the amino acid
acceptor arm , the stem does not end with
loop. The acceptor arm has 3 end of the
nucleotide chain.
The terminus of the acceptor site has a
constant CCA base sequence. To this base
amino acid are attached to form aminoacyl
tRNA. The 5 end of the arm comes near the 3
end due to folding. Its terminus either guanine
or cytosine.
D arm: The D arm has 3 to 4 paired bases in
the stem and 7 to 11 unpaired bases in the
loop is called dihydrouridine loop or D-loop
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
The anticodon Arm: In the anticodon arm,the
stem has 5 paired bases and the loop has 7
unpaired bases. The loop is called anticodon
loop. Three of the 7 unpaired bases in the loop
determine the pairing of t RNA with the
specific codon of mRNA.
The Variable arm: In variable arm, the stem
may or may not be formed. The variable arm or
mini arm has a loop with 4-5 bases. In some
variable arms, stem is present.
The T C arm contains a constant T C
sequence. Its loop has ribosome recognition
site.
 The t RNA molecules are named according to the
amino acid to which it gets attached. For example, t
RNA carrying alanine can be called t RNA al.
t RNA molecule are synthesized at particular
regions of DNA by a process called transcription.
About 40-80 genes or cistrons are involved in t RNA
transcription. The hybrid t RNA has base sequences
complementary to the mother DNA in the beginning
.
But after the completion of transcription. The
nitrogenous bases are altered at certain points in
the nucleotide chain.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Functions
t RNA picks up a specific activated amino
acid from the amino acid pool in the
cytoplasm
The amino acid is then transferred to the
ribosome in the cytoplasm where proteins are
synthesized.
The attachment with ribosome depends upon
the codes in the m RNA and anticodons in the
t RNA finally it transmits its amino acid to the
new polypeptide chain.

 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
Ribosomal RNA ( r RNA): is a ribonucleic acid present
in the ribosomes and hence it is called ribosomal RNA. It is
called insoluble RNA. It constitutes about 80% of the
cellular RNA.
The ribosomal RNA is formed of a single strand. It is a
polynucleotide chain. Each strand is formed of many
nucleotide units. Each nucleotide is formed of three
different molecules namely a phosphate, ribose sugar and a
nitrogen base.
The r RNA are classified into 7 types according to their
sedimentation coefficient. They are the following.
28s r RNA, 18s r RNA, 5.8 s r RNA, 5 s r RNA 23 s r
RNA,16s r RNA, 55s r RNA.
Of these 28s r RNA , 18s r RNA , 5.8 s r RNA and 5.5 s r
RNA are existing in eukaryotic cells. 23,16,5 are existing in
prokaryotic cells.
 CHARACTERISATION OF RNAs
In EUKARYOTIC ribosome , the large 60Svedberg
ribosomal subunit contains 28s r RNA,5.8, 5s r RNA.
The small 40 s ribosomal subunit contains 18s r RNA.
The r RNA is synthesized by the DNA by a process
called transcription. The r RNA is transcribed on a
small section of the DNA called r DNA.
In prokaryotes , a small section of the chromosomal
DNA is used for transcribing r DNA.
In eukaryotes all r RNA except 5 s r RNA are
synthesized on the nucleolus.
Functions
Though the r RNA constitutes the main bulk of the
cytoplasmic RNA, it is believed that r RNA plays the
major role in protein synthesis.