What IS DNA anyway?

Do Now:

1.pass up the lab!

2.Read “why do enzymes have an optimal temperature”

3.Why do you think enzymes have an optimal pH also?

DNA’s Basic Structure isn’t Complex

• Just like polysaccharides are long chains of…

• And proteins are 1 or more long chains of …

• Nucleic Acids are long chains of…

NUCLEOTIDES

Nucleotides: The Subunits of Nucleic Acids

A, C, G, T, U

DNA & RNA Are Made

Up of Nucleotides

Sugar – Phosphate Backbone

Hydrogen bonds

between base pairs hold the two strands

together

This model animation shows approximately 40 nucleotides arranged in a double helix (2-stranded spiral.)

DNA is a chemical that stores information.

It’s like a hard drive. Computers store information as 1s and 0s.DNA and RNA store information as As, Ts, Gs, and Cs.

Just like an iPod stores your favorite songs, DNA stores your species favorite biological instructions.

• DNA stores important information

• RNA Processes and

transfers information

DNA & RNA: The 2 types of Nucleic Acids

DNA RNA

Monomer DNA Nucleotides (deoxyribose sugar)

RNA Nucleotides (ribose sugar)

# strands 2 1

Function Store Information Process Information

Bases A,T,G,C A,U,G,C

The sugars aren’t that different.

RNA Structure• Because RNA

molecules are single stranded, they can have a great variety of shapes and structures.

• These shapes are formed by the single stranded molecule hydrogen bonding to itself in different ways

Self-replicating RNA molecules

Wrap Up:• What are nucleic acids made of?

• What element do nucleotides have that other monomers don’t?

• What do nucleic acids do?

• What are the two types of nucleic acids?

• What holds the two strands of a DNA molecule together?

• What are some of the differences between DNA and RNA?