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The structure of DNA and RNA
DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, and RNA for ribonucleic acid. As we saw in Chapter 2, nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA, like proteins and polysaccharides, are macromolecules (page 29). They are also polymers, made up of many similar, smaller molecules joined into a long chain. The smaller molecules from which DNA and RNA molecules are made are nucleotides. DNA and RNA are therefore polynucleotides. They are often referred to simply as nucleic acids.
Nucleotides Nucleotides are made up of : ■ a nitrogen-containing base
■ a pentose sugar
■ a phosphate group.
There are just four different nitrogen-containing bases found in DNA : adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine . A T G C
in RNA : adenine, uracil, guanine and cytosine . A U G C
The pentose (5-carbon) sugar can be either ribose (in RNA) or deoxyribose (in DNA). As their names suggest, deoxyribose is almost the sa me as ribose, except that it has one fewer oxygen atoms in its molecule.
