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It is not always the case that the structure of a molecule is easy to relate to its function. What makes the structure of DNA so obviously related to its function was described modestly at the end of the article: "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material".
The image above contains clickable links Interactive image of nucleic acid structure (primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary) using DNA helices and examples from the VS ribozyme and telomerase and nucleosome. Nucleic acid structure refers to the structure of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. Chemically speaking, DNA and RNA are very similar.
The basic component of biological nucleic acids is the nucleotide, each of which contains a pentose sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and a nucleobase. [16] Nucleic acids are also generated within the laboratory, through the use of enzymes [17] (DNA and RNA polymerases) and by solid-phase chemical synthesis.
At neutral pH, nucleic acids are highly charged as each phosphate group carries a negative charge. [7] Both DNA and RNA are built from nucleoside phosphates, also known as mononucleotide monomers, which are thermodynamically less likely to combine than amino acids. Phosphodiester bonds, when hydrolyzed, release a considerable amount of free energy.
This nucleotide contains the five-carbon sugar deoxyribose (at center), a nucleobase called adenine (upper right), and one phosphate group (left). The deoxyribose sugar joined only to the nitrogenous base forms a Deoxyribonucleoside called deoxyadenosine, whereas the whole structure along with the phosphate group is a nucleotide, a constituent of DNA with the name deoxyadenosine monophosphate.
Crick proposed that each amino acid is first attached to its own specific “adaptor” piece of nucleic acid (in an enzyme-catalysed reaction). The order of assembly of the amino acids is then determined by a specific recognition between the adaptor and the nucleic acid which is serving as the informational template.
Phoebus Aaron Theodore Levene (25 February 1869 – 6 September 1940) was a Russian-born American biochemist who studied the structure and function of nucleic acids. He characterized the different forms of nucleic acid, DNA from RNA, and found that DNA contained adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine, deoxyribose, and a phosphate group. [1]
The sequence of nucleobases on a nucleic acid strand is translated by cell machinery into a sequence of amino acids making up a protein strand. Each group of three bases, called a codon , corresponds to a single amino acid, and there is a specific genetic code by which each possible combination of three bases corresponds to a specific amino acid.