Nucleic acid

Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that are crucial in all cells and viruses.
[1]
They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomer components:
a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main
classes of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic
acid (RNA). If the sugar is ribose, the polymer is RNA; if the sugar is
deoxyribose, a variant of ribose, the polymer is DNA.

Nucleic acids RNA (left) and DNA

(right).

Nucleic acids are chemical compounds that are found in nature. They carry
information in cells and make up genetic material. These acids are very
common in all living things, where they create, encode, and store
information in every living cell of every life-form on Earth. In turn, they send
and express that information inside and outside the cell nucleus. From the
inner workings of the cell to the young of a living thing, they contain and
provide information via the nucleic acid sequence. This gives the RNA and
:
 DNA their unmistakable 'ladder-step' order of nucleotides within their
molecules. Both play a crucial role in directing protein synthesis.

Strings of nucleotides are bonded to form spiraling backbones and

assembled into chains of bases or base-pairs selected from the five
primary, or canonical, nucleobases. RNA usually forms a chain of single
bases, whereas DNA forms a chain of base pairs. The bases found in RNA
and DNA are: adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil. Thymine
occurs only in DNA and uracil only in RNA. Using amino acids and protein
synthesis,[2] the specific sequence in DNA of these nucleobase-pairs helps
to keep and send coded instructions as genes. In RNA, base-pair
sequencing helps to make new proteins that determine most chemical
processes of all life forms.

History

The Swiss scientist Friedrich Miescher

discovered nucleic acid first naming it
as nuclein, in 1868. Later, he raised
the idea that it could be involved in
heredity.[3]

Nucleic acid was first discovered by Friedrich Miescher in 1869 at the

:
 University of Tübingen, Germany. He gave its first name as nuclein.[4] In the
early 1880s Albrecht Kossel further purified the substance and discovered
its highly acidic properties. He later also identified the nucleobases. In 1889
Richard Altmann created the term nucleic acid – at that time DNA and RNA
were not differentiated.[5] In 1938 Astbury and Bell published the first X-ray
diffraction pattern of DNA.[6]

In 1944 the Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment showed that DNA is the

carrier of genetic information and in 1953 Watson and Crick proposed the
double-helix structure of DNA.[7]

Experimental studies of nucleic acids constitute a major part of modern

biological and medical research, and form a foundation for genome and
forensic science, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.[8][9]
[10]

Occurrence and
nomenclature
The term nucleic acid is the overall name for DNA and RNA, members of a
family of biopolymers,[11] and is synonymous with polynucleotide. Nucleic
acids were named for their initial discovery within the nucleus, and for the
presence of phosphate groups (related to phosphoric acid).[12] Although
first discovered within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, nucleic acids are now
known to be found in all life forms including within bacteria, archaea,
mitochondria, chloroplasts, and viruses (There is debate as to whether
viruses are living or non-living). All living cells contain both DNA and RNA
(except some cells such as mature red blood cells), while viruses contain
either DNA or RNA, but usually not both.[13] The basic component of
biological nucleic acids is the nucleotide, each of which contains a pentose
sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and a nucleobase.[14]
Nucleic acids are also generated within the laboratory, through the use of
enzymes[15] (DNA and RNA polymerases) and by solid-phase chemical
:
 synthesis.

Molecular composition
and size
Nucleic acids are generally very large molecules. Indeed, DNA molecules
are probably the largest individual molecules known. Well-studied biological
nucleic acid molecules range in size from 21 nucleotides (small interfering
RNA) to large chromosomes (human chromosome 1 is a single molecule that
contains 247 million base pairs[16]).

In most cases, naturally occurring DNA molecules are double-stranded and

RNA molecules are single-stranded.[17] There are numerous exceptions,
however—some viruses have genomes made of double-stranded RNA and
other viruses have single-stranded DNA genomes,[18] and, in some
circumstances, nucleic acid structures with three or four strands can form.
[19]

Nucleic acids are linear polymers (chains) of nucleotides. Each nucleotide

consists of three components: a purine or pyrimidine nucleobase
(sometimes termed nitrogenous base or simply base), a pentose sugar, and
a phosphate group which makes the molecule acidic. The substructure
consisting of a nucleobase plus sugar is termed a nucleoside. Nucleic acid
types differ in the structure of the sugar in their nucleotides–DNA contains
2'-deoxyribose while RNA contains ribose (where the only difference is the
presence of a hydroxyl group). Also, the nucleobases found in the two
nucleic acid types are different: adenine, cytosine, and guanine are found in
both RNA and DNA, while thymine occurs in DNA and uracil occurs in RNA.

The sugars and phosphates in nucleic acids are connected to each other in
an alternating chain (sugar-phosphate backbone) through phosphodiester
linkages.[20] In conventional nomenclature, the carbons to which the
phosphate groups attach are the 3'-end and the 5'-end carbons of the
sugar. This gives nucleic acids directionality, and the ends of nucleic acid
:
 molecules are referred to as 5'-end and 3'-end. The nucleobases are joined
to the sugars via an N-glycosidic linkage involving a nucleobase ring
nitrogen (N-1 for pyrimidines and N-9 for purines) and the 1' carbon of the
pentose sugar ring.

Non-standard nucleosides are also found in both RNA and DNA and usually
arise from modification of the standard nucleosides within the DNA
molecule or the primary (initial) RNA transcript. Transfer RNA (tRNA)
molecules contain a particularly large number of modified nucleosides.[21]

Topology
Double-stranded nucleic acids are made up of complementary sequences,
in which extensive Watson-Crick base pairing results in a highly repeated
and quite uniform nucleic acid double-helical three-dimensional structure.
[22]
In contrast, single-stranded RNA and DNA molecules are not
constrained to a regular double helix, and can adopt highly complex three-
dimensional structures that are based on short stretches of intramolecular
base-paired sequences including both Watson-Crick and noncanonical base
pairs, and a wide range of complex tertiary interactions.[23]

Nucleic acid molecules are usually unbranched and may occur as linear and
circular molecules. For example, bacterial chromosomes, plasmids,
mitochondrial DNA, and chloroplast DNA are usually circular double-
stranded DNA molecules, while chromosomes of the eukaryotic nucleus are
usually linear double-stranded DNA molecules.[13] Most RNA molecules are
linear, single-stranded molecules, but both circular and branched molecules
can result from RNA splicing reactions.[24] The total amount of pyrimidines
in a double-stranded DNA molecule is equal to the total amount of purines.
The diameter of the helix is about 20 Å.

Sequences
:
 One DNA or RNA molecule differs from another primarily in the sequence of
nucleotides. Nucleotide sequences are of great importance in biology since
they carry the ultimate instructions that encode all biological molecules,
molecular assemblies, subcellular and cellular structures, organs, and
organisms, and directly enable cognition, memory, and behavior. Enormous
efforts have gone into the development of experimental methods to
determine the nucleotide sequence of biological DNA and RNA molecules,
[25][26]
and today hundreds of millions of nucleotides are sequenced daily at
genome centers and smaller laboratories worldwide. In addition to
maintaining the GenBank nucleic acid sequence database, the National
Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) provides analysis and retrieval
resources for the data in GenBank and other biological data made available
through the NCBI web site.[27]

Types

Deoxyribonucleic acid
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid containing the genetic
instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living
organisms. The chemical DNA was discovered in 1869, but its role in genetic
inheritance was not demonstrated until 1943. The DNA segments that carry
this genetic information are called genes. Other DNA sequences have
structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic
information. Along with RNA and proteins, DNA is one of the three major
macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life. DNA consists
of two long polymers of monomer units called nucleotides, with backbones
made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two
strands are oriented in opposite directions to each other and are, therefore,
antiparallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called
nucleobases (informally, bases). It is the sequence of these four
nucleobases along the backbone that encodes genetic information. This
:
 information specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins
according to the genetic code. The code is read by copying stretches of
DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA in a process called transcription.
Within cells, DNA is organized into long sequences called chromosomes.
During cell division these chromosomes are duplicated in the process of
DNA replication, providing each cell its own complete set of chromosomes.
Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store most of
their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in organelles, such
as mitochondria or chloroplasts. In contrast, prokaryotes (bacteria and
archaea) store their DNA only in the cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes,
chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These
compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins,
helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed.

Ribonucleic acid
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) functions in converting genetic information from
genes into the amino acid sequences of proteins. The three universal types
of RNA include transfer RNA (tRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), and
ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Messenger RNA acts to carry genetic sequence
information between DNA and ribosomes, directing protein synthesis and
carries instructions from DNA in the nucleus to ribosome . Ribosomal RNA
reads the DNA sequence, and catalyzes peptide bond formation. Transfer
RNA serves as the carrier molecule for amino acids to be used in protein
synthesis, and is responsible for decoding the mRNA. In addition, many
other classes of RNA are now known.

Artificial nucleic acid

:
 Artificial nucleic acid analogues have been designed and synthesized.[28]
They include peptide nucleic acid, morpholino- and locked nucleic acid,
glycol nucleic acid, and threose nucleic acid. Each of these is distinguished
from naturally occurring DNA or RNA by changes to the backbone of the
molecules.

See also

Comparison of nucleic acid

simulation software
History of biochemistry
History of molecular biology
History of RNA biology
Molecular biology – Branch of
biology that studies biological
systems at the molecular level
Nucleic acid methods –
Techniques used to study
:
 nucleic acids
Nucleic acid metabolism –
Process
Nucleic acid structure –
Biomolecular structure of
nucleic acids such as DNA and
RNA
Nucleic acid thermodynamics –
Study of how temperature
affects the nucleic acid
structure
Oligonucleotide synthesis –
Chemical synthesis of relatively
short fragments of nucleic
:
 acids with defined chemical
structure
Quantification of nucleic
acids – commonly performed to
determine the average
concentrations of DNA or RNA
present in a mixture, as well as
their purity

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Further reading

Palou-Mir J, Barceló-Oliver M, Sigel

RK (2017). "Chapter 12. The Role of
Lead(II) in Nucleic Acids". In Astrid
S, Helmut S, Sigel RK (eds.). Lead:
Its Effects on Environment and
Health. Metal Ions in Life Sciences.
Vol. 17. de Gruyter. pp. 403–434.
doi:10.1515/9783110434330-012
(https://doi.org/10.1515%2F97831
10434330-012) .
PMID 28731305 (https://pubmed.
:
 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28731305) .

External links

Interview with Aaron Klug,

Nobel Laureate for structural
elucidation of biologically
important nucleic-acid protein
complexes (http://www.vega.or
g.uk/video/programme/122)
provided by the Vega Science
Trust.
Nucleic Acids Research journal
(https://web.archive.org/web/2
0050604014603/http://nar.oxf
:
 ordjournals.org/)
Nucleic Acids Book (free online
book on the chemistry and
biology of nucleic acids) (http://
www.atdbio.com/nucleic-acids
-book)
Visualization of nucleotide
sequence (http://sresearch.scie
nceontheweb.net/visualization.
php)

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