Genetics nucleic acid

The major classes of organic compounds common to living systems are lipids pro terns nucleic acids and carbohydrates Carbohydrates are very familiar to us— we call many of them sugars They make up a substantial portion of the food we eat and provide most of the energy that keeps the human engine running Carbohy drates are structural components of the walls of plant cells and the wood of trees Genetic information is stored and transferred by way of nucleic acids specialized derivatives of carbohydrates which we 11 examine m more detail m Chapter 28... 

In Chapter 1 we saw that a major achievement of the first half of the twentieth cen tury was the picture of atomic and molecular structure revealed by quantum mechan ICS In this the last chapter we examine the major achievement of the second half of that century—a molecular view of genetics based on the structure and biochemistry of nucleic acids... 

Nucleic acids are acidic substances present m the nuclei of cells and were known long before anyone suspected they were the primary substances involved m the storage transmission and processing of genetic information There are two kinds of nucleic acids ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Both are complicated biopolymers based on three structural units a carbohydrate a phosphate ester linkage between carbohydrates and a heterocyclic aromatic compound The heterocyclic aro matic compounds are referred to as purine and pyrimidine bases We 11 begin with them and follow the structural thread... 

New Chapter 28 Nucleosides Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids is new Its presence testifies to the importance of these topics and the explosive growth of our knowledge of the molecular basis of genetics... 

Besides the worldwide WPI database, Derwent provides on the ORBIT system the USPatents database, a bibhographic file of patent front page and cl aim information for U.S. patents since 1971. Derwent also produces a biotechnology database, GENESEQ, that indexes sequence stmetures of proteins or nucleic acids disclosed specifically or genetically in patents. This database is searchable with special sequence software on the InteUiGenetics system, and is a new addition to STN s database catalog. 

Quinacrine concentrates in the scolex of the parasite and causes the muscles needed for holding onto the intestinal wall to relax. The worms are stained yellow and pass from the body, still aUve. Quinacrine can intercalate with DNA and inhibit nucleic acid synthesis. It creates fluorescent bands in deoxyadenylate—deoxythmidylate-rich regions of DNA and has been used as a stain in the study of human genetics. 

Vimses are one of the smallest biological entities (except viroids and prions) that carry all the iaformation necessary for thek own reproduction. They are unique, differing from procaryotes and eucaryotes ia that they carry only one type of nucleic acid as genetic material, which can be transported by the vims from one cell to another. Vimses are composed of a shell of proteki enclosing a core of nucleic acid, either ribonucleic acid (RNA) or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), that codes for vkal reproduction. The outer shell serves as a protective coat to keep the nucleic acid kitact and safe from enzymatic destmction. In addition to thek proteki coat, some vimses contain an outer covering known as an outer envelope. This outer envelope consists of a Hpid or polysaccharide material. 

Nucleic acids are the molecules of the genetic apparatus. They direct protein biosynthesis in the body and are the raw materials of genetic technology (see Genetic engineering). Most often polynucleotides are synthesized microbiologicaHy, or at least enzymatically, but chemical synthesis is possible. 

After 1900, genetic research—but not research on nucleic acids—blossomed. Nucleic acids were difficult to work with, hard to purify, and, even though they were present in all cells, did not seem to be very interesting. Early analyses, later shown to be inconect, were interpreted to mean that nucleic acids were polymers consisting of repeats of some sequence of adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C) in a 1 1 1 1 ratio. Nucleic acids didn t seem to offer a rich enough alphabet from which to build a genetic dictionary. Most workers in the field believed proteins to be better-candidates. 

New chapter on Nucleosides, Nucleotides, and Nucleic Acids testifies to the explosive growth of the molecular- basis of genetics. 

FIGURE 1.25 The virus life cycle. Viruses are mobile bits of genetic iuformatiou encapsulated in a protein coat. The genetic material can be either DNA or RNA. Once this genetic material gains entry to its host cell, it takes over the host machinery for macromolecular synthesis and subverts it to the synthesis of viral-specific nucleic acids and proteins. These virus components are then assembled into mature virus particles that are released from the cell. Often, this parasitic cycle of virus infection leads to cell death and disease. 

NUCLEOPROTEINS. Nucleoprotein conjugates have many roles in the storage and transmission of genetic information. Ribosomes are the sites of protein synthesis. Virus particles and even chromosomes are protein-nucleic acid complexes. 

---