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The term nucleic acid is the overall name for DNA and RNA, members of a family of biopolymers, [13] and is a type of polynucleotide. Nucleic acids were named for their initial discovery within the nucleus, and for the presence of phosphate groups (related to phosphoric acid). [14] Although first discovered within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells ...
Phosphorus and sulfur are also common essential elements, essential to the structure of nucleic acids and amino acids, respectively. Chlorine, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus have important roles due to their ready ionization and utility in regulating membrane activity and osmotic potential. [2]
The structure was reported in a letter titled "MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid ", in which they said, "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material."
Sulfur is contained in the amino acids cysteine and methionine. [3] Phosphorus is contained in phospholipids , a class of lipids that are a major component of all cell membranes , as they can form lipid bilayers , which keep ions , proteins , and other molecules where they are needed for cell function, and prevent them from diffusing into areas ...
Sulfur-35 is used to label proteins and nucleic acids. Cysteine is an amino acid containing a thiol group which can be labeled by sulfur-35. For nucleotides that do not contain a sulfur group, the oxygen on one of the phosphate groups can be substituted with a sulfur.
Radioactive sulfur-35 was used to label the protein sections of the T2 phage, because sulfur is contained in protein but not DNA. [ 6 ] Hershey and Chase inserted the radioactive elements in the bacteriophages by adding the isotopes to separate media within which bacteria were allowed to grow for 4 hours before bacteriophage introduction.
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.
A biomolecule or biological molecule is loosely defined as a molecule produced by a living organism and essential to one or more typically biological processes. [1] Biomolecules include large macromolecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids, as well as small molecules such as vitamins and hormones.