Nucleotides

Building Blocks of DNA and RNA

 What is a nucleotide?
Nucleotides are molecules consisting of a nucleoside and
a phosphate group. They are the basic building blocks
of DNA and RNA.
They are organic molecules that serve as the monomer units for
forming the nucleic acid polymers deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are
essential biomolecules within all life-forms on Earth. Nucleotides
are the building blocks of nucleic acids; they are composed of
three sub unit molecules: a nitrogenous base (also known
as nucleobase), a five-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and
at least one phosphate group. The four nucleotides present in
DNA are guanine, adenine, cytosine and thymine; in RNA uracil
is used in place of thymine.
 What is a nucleotide?
Nucleotides also play a central role in metabolism at a fundamental,
cellular level. They carry packets of chemical energy—in the form of
the nucleoside triphosphates Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), Guanosine
triphosphate (GTP), Cytidine triphosphate (CTP) and Uridine
triphosphate (UTP)—throughout the cell to the many cellular functions
that demand energy, which include: synthesizing amino
acids, proteins and cell membranes and parts, moving the cell and
moving cell parts (both internally and intercellularly), dividing the cell,
etc. In addition, nucleotides participate in cell signaling (cyclic guanosine
monophosphate or cGMP and cyclic adenosine monophosphate or
cAMP), and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic
reactions (e.g. coenzyme A, FAD, FMN, NAD, and NADP +).
In experimental biochemistry, nucleotides can
be radiolabeled with radionuclides to yield radionucleotides.
 Nucleotide Structure
A nucleotide is composed of three distinctive chemical sub-
units: a five-carbon sugar molecule, a nitrogenous base—
which two together are called a nucleoside—and one
phosphate group. With all three joined, a nucleotide is also
termed a "nucleoside monophosphate". The chemistry
sources ACS Style Guide and IUPAC Gold Book prescribe
that a nucleotide should contain only one phosphate group,
but common usage in molecular biology textbooks often
extends the definition to include molecules with two, or
with three, phosphates. Thus, the terms "nucleoside
diphosphate" or "nucleoside triphosphate" may also
indicate nucleotides.
 Nucleotide Structure
Nucleotides contain either a purine or a pyrimidine base—i.e., the
nitrogenous base molecule, also known as a nucleobase—and are termed
ribonucleotides if the sugar is ribose, or deoxyribonucleotides if the sugar
is deoxyribose. Individual phosphate molecules repetitively connect the
sugar-ring molecules in two adjacent nucleotide monomers, thereby
connecting the nucleotide monomers of a nucleic acid end-to-end into a
long chain. These chain-joins of sugar and phosphate molecules create a
'backbone' strand for a single- or double helix. In any one strand, the
chemical orientation (directionality) of the chain-joins runs from the 5'-end
to the 3'-end (read: 5 prime-end to 3 prime-end)—referring to the five
carbon sites on sugar molecules in adjacent nucleotides. In a double helix,
the two strands are oriented in opposite directions, which permits base
pairing and complementarity between the base-pairs, all which is essential
for replicating or transcribing the encoded information found in DNA.
 Nucleotide Structure
Unlike in nucleic acid nucleotides, singular cyclic nucleotides
are formed when the phosphate group is bound twice to the
same sugar molecule, i.e., at the corners of the sugar hydroxyl
groups. These individual nucleotides function in cell metabolism
rather than the nucleic acid structures of long-chain molecules.
Nucleic acids then are polymeric macromolecules assembled
from nucleotides, the monomer-units of nucleic acids. The
purine bases adenine and guanine and pyrimidine base cytosine
occur in both DNA and RNA, while the pyrimidine bases
thymine (in DNA) and uracil (in RNA) occur in just one.
Adenine forms a base pair with thymine with two hydrogen
bonds, while guanine pairs with cytosine with three hydrogen
bonds.
 Adenine
Adenine is a purine, which is one of two families of
nitrogenous bases. Purines have a double-ringed structure.
In DNA, adenine bonds with thymine. In RNA, adenine
bonds with uracil. Adenosine triphosphate, as discussed
earlier, uses the nucleotide adenine as a base. From there,
three phosphate groups can be attached. This allows a great
deal of energy to be stored in the bonds. For the same
reason that the sugar-phosphate backbone is so strong, the
bonds in ATP are as well. When combined with special
enzymes which have formed to release the energy, it can be
transferred to other reactions and molecules.
 Guanine
Like adenine, guanine is a purine nucleotide; it has a
double ring. It bonds with cytosine in both DNA and RNA.
As seen in the image below, guanine binds to cytosine
through three hydrogen bonds. This makes the cytosine-
guanine bond slightly stronger than the thymine-adenine
bond, which only forms two hydrogen bonds.
 Cytosine
Pyrimidines are the other class of nucleotide. Cytosine is a
pyrimidine nucleotide; it has only one ring in its structure.
Cytosine bonds with guanine in both DNA and RNA.
Bonding with the nucleotide guanine, the two make a
strong pair.
 Thymine
Like the nucleotide cytosine, thymine is a pyrimidine
nucleotide and has one ring. It bonds with adenine in
DNA. Thymine is not found in RNA. In DNA, it forms only
two hydrogen bonds with adenine, making them the
weaker pair.
 Uracil
Uracil is also a pyrimidine. During transcription from DNA
to RNA, uracil is placed everywhere a thymine would
normally go. The reason for this is not entirely understood,
though uracil has some distinct advantages and
disadvantages. Most creatures do not use uracil within the
DNA because it is short lived, and can degrade into
cytosine. However, in RNA uracil is the preferred
nucleotide because RNA is also a short lived molecule.
 Nucleotide Function
Besides being the basic unit of genetic material for all living
things, a nucleotide can have other functions as well. A
nucleotide can be a base in another molecule, such as adenosine
triphosphate (ATP), which is the main energy molecule of the
cell. They are also found in coenzymes like NAD and NADP,
which come from ADP; these molecules are used in many
chemical reactions that play roles in metabolism. Another
molecule that contains a nucleotide is cyclic AMP (cAMP), a
messenger molecule that is important in many processes
including the regulation of metabolism and transporting
chemical signals to cells. Nucleotides not only make up the
building blocks of life, but also form many different molecules
that function to make life possible.