Nucleic Acids How Structure Conveys Information

In Chapter 4, we identified four levels of structure—primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary—in proteins. Nucleic acids can be viewed in the same way. The primary structure of nucleic acids is the order of bases in the polynucleotide sequence, and the secondary structure is the three-dimensional conformation of the backbone. The tertiary structure is specifically the supercoiling of the molecule. 

There are two principal types of nucleic acids, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). 

The primary structure of nucleic acids is the order of bases. The secondary structure is the three-dimensional conformation of the backbone. The tertiary structure is the supercoifing of the molecule. 

Polymers can always be broken down into smaller and smaller units until we are left with the smallest single unit of the polymer, called a monomer. The monomers of nucleic acids are nucleotides. An individual nucleotide consists of three parts—a nitrogenous base, a sugar, and a phosphoric acid residue— all of which are covalently bonded together. 

The order of bases in the nucleic acids of DNA contains the information necessary to produce the correct amino acid sequence in the cell s proteins. 

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Chapter 9 Nucleic Acids How Structure Conveys Information... 

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