

DNA nitrogenous bases are important in bonding two strands together to form the double helix using weak intermolecular hydrogen bonding forces.The phosphate groups form bonds between the 3rd carbon (3’) of the ribose sugar of one base and the 5th carbon (5’) of the ribose sugars of the other base, forming the phosphate backbone of a DNA strand.Īpplications of Hard-Soft Acid-Base theory DNA consist of two strands of repeating units called nucleotides each nucleotide is made up of a five-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base. Each strand has a backbone made of alternating sugar (deoxyribose) and. DNA is made of two linked strands that wind around each other to resemble a twisted ladder a shape known as a double helix. The chemistry of the phosphate groups forms another important part of the DNA structure, joining together the ribose sugars and bases to form a polymer with phosphodiester bonds. Deoxyribonucleic acid (abbreviated DNA) is the molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism. Guanine binds to Cytosine via 3 hydrogen bonds, as shown below, whereas Adenine binds to Thymine via 2 hydrogen bonds. These bases match up in complementary pairs due to the number of hydrogen bonds and relative sizes of the bases. These hydrogen bonds form between the amino groups on one base and the amino or carbonyl groups on the adjacent nitrogenous base. The nucleotide contains both a segment of the backbone of the molecule (which holds the chain together) and a nucleobase (which interacts with the other DNA. The nitrogenous bases of one strand in the double-stranded structure form hydrogen bonds to the other strand to form a double helix. As a polymer, DNA is made up of nucleotide monomers which each contain a nitrogenous base, ribose sugar, and phosphate group. Stryer L.DNA is a nucleic acid that contains monomer nucleotide units formed into a polymer and is held in a double helix structure by hydrogen bonding between nitrogenous bases of the two antiparallel strands.ĭNA contains a large range of important chemical concepts. Kilpatrick S.T 2011 Lewin's Genes X, 10th Edition, Jones and Bartlett Publishers: London These two sugars only differ by one -OH group being changed to an -H, but provides different capabilities for each molecule. Each nucleotide is composed of one of the four nitrogen molecules containing nucleobases (cytosine, guanine, adenine or thymine), a deoxyribose sugar and a. On on the other hand, the sugar in the backbone of RNA is called ribose. In DNA, the sugar involved is deoxyribose. However, their sugar phosphate backbone differs slightly. The sugar and phosphate of the polymerized nucleotides form the backbone of the structure, whereas the nitrogenous bases are stacked inside. RNA and DNA are both examples of phosphodiesters and have a very similar structure. (a DNA strand) with a sugar-phosphate backbone from which the. One turn of this helix is 34nm long, the diameter of it is 2nm, and there are ten bases attached per turn at 0.34nm. DNA is made of four types of nucleotides, which are linked covalently into a polynucleotide chain. These features make DNA can repel water and would not hydrolysed and breakdown by the aqueous environment. This backbone is composed of alternating sugar and phosphate groups, and defines directionality of the molecule.

The sugar-phosphate backbone forms the structural framework of nucleic acids, including DNA and RNA. DNA is very stable due to rungs of “ladder” is hydrophobic and phosphate sugar backbone of DNA is negatively charged. A sugar-phosphate Polymer backbone - Wikipedia (alternating grey-dark grey) joins together nucleotides in a DNA sequence. The purpose of this twisting is to protect the bases inside it, and prevent them from being damaged by the environment. one runs 3' to 5', the other run 5' to 3'. This is done by the sugar phosphate backbone twisting around itself in a coil. Figure 1 Diagram showing the sugar phosphate backbone of DNA, and the nitrogenous bases attached to it, forming a nucleotide Structure of DNAĭNA is wound into an right-handed double helix.
