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At the time, "yeast nucleic acid" (RNA) was thought to occur only in plants, while "thymus nucleic acid" (DNA) only in animals. The latter was thought to be a tetramer, with the function of buffering cellular pH. [199] [200] In 1937, William Astbury produced the first X-ray diffraction patterns that showed that DNA had a regular structure. [201]
A nucleic acid sequence is the order of nucleotides within a DNA (GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule that is determined by a series of letters. Sequences are presented from the 5' to 3' end and determine the covalent structure of the entire molecule.
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.
The primary structure of a protein is reported starting from the amino N-terminus to the carboxyl C-terminus, while the primary structure of DNA or RNA molecule is known as the nucleic acid sequence reported from the 5' end to the 3' end. The nucleic acid sequence refers to the exact sequence of nucleotides that comprise the whole molecule.
From the DNA double helix model, it was clear that there must be some correspondence between the linear sequences of nucleotides in DNA molecules to the linear sequences of amino acids in proteins. The details of how sequences of DNA instruct cells to make specific proteins was worked out by molecular biologists during the period from 1953 to 1965.
As the two strands of a double-stranded nucleic acid molecule are antiparallel, the 5′→3′ direction on the second strand corresponds to the 3′→5′ direction along the first strand. [1] [2] In general, at the most, one reading frame in a given section of a nucleic acid, is biologically relevant (open reading frame). Some viral ...
Three DNA conformations are believed to be found in nature, A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA. The "B" form described by James D. Watson and Francis Crick is believed to predominate in cells. [ 2 ] James D. Watson and Francis Crick described this structure as a double helix with a radius of 10 Å and pitch of 34 Å , making one complete turn about its ...
Molecular genetics – study of the bimolecular mechanisms behind the structure and function of DNA Quantitative genetics – study of phenotypes that vary continuously (in characters such as height or mass)—as opposed to discretely identifiable phenotypes and gene-products (such as eye-colour, or the presence of a particular biochemical).