[[Macromolecules]]

# General Overview
essentially stores information, 2 types, dna (deoxyribonucleic acid) and rna (ribonucleic acid)

# Structure
dna and rna polymers consist of nucleotide chains called strands.

2 distinct ends, one with 5' and one with 3', called five prime end and three prime end respectively. the five prime end has a phosphate and a three prime end with a hydroxyl group. when nucleic acids are synthesized, nucleotides are covalently bonded to the 3' end.

dna is composed of 2 antiparralel strands, one runs 3' to 5', the other opposite. each strand is repeating nucleotide monomers. rna is just one strand.

![[Pasted image 20260813171126.png]]

each nucleotide has a backbone of sugar phosphate and a nitrogenous base. dnas have deoxyribose sugars while rnas have ribose sugars. they are both pentose, which means 5 carbons, and deoxyribose has one less oxygen at the second carbon.

nucleotides have one of five nitrogenous bases, adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil. thymine is only in dna, uracil is only in rna.
![[Pasted image 20260813171538.png]]
the image shows a dna, with there being a deoxyribose backbone and nucleotides which are connected via hydrogen bonds, making them easy to separate when needed.

adenine pairs with thymine (apple in the tree), guanine pairs with cytosine (car in the garage), in rna adenine pairs with uracil (apple in a uracil?)

# Summary

|Nucleic Acid|# of strands|Sugar|Nitrogenous Bases|
|---|---|---|---|
|DNA|2|deoxyribose|Cytosine  <br>Guanine  <br>Adenine  <br>Thymine|
|RNA|1|ribose|Cytosine  <br>Guanine  <br>Adenine  <br>Uracil|