A nucleoside is formed by the attachment of a base to position of sugar.
Nucleoside = Sugar + Base
On the other hand, all the three basic components of nucleic acids (i.e., pentose sugar, phosphoric acid, and base) are present in a nucleotide. Nucleotide = Sugar + Base + Phosphoric acid
The particles in the nucleus of the cell, responsible for heredity, are called chromosomes which are made up of proteins and another type of biomolecules called nucleic acids. These are mainly of two types, DNA and RNA. Nucleic acids on hydrolysis yield a pentose sugar, phosphoric acid and nitrogen containing heterocyclic compound. Nucleic acids have a very diverse set of functions, such as cell creation, the storage and processing of genetic information, protein synthesis and the generation of energy cells. Although their functions may differ, the structure of DNA and RNA are very similar, with only a few fundamental differences in their molecular make-up. Based on the above information, answer the following questions: (a) Write two functions of DNA.
Human DNA is unique and is made up of 3 billion base pairs. However, 99% of them are the same in all humans. The sequence of these bases determines what information needs to be coded that is necessary for the organism's growth and development. During the process of transcription (when DNA is replicated), a product is formed known as RNA (Ribonucleic Acid). This RNA is responsible for translating genetic information from DNA to protein followed by reading through ribosomes.
Read More: Structure of DNA
The ribonucleic acid has all the components same to that of the DNA with only 2 main differences within it. RNA has the same nitrogen bases called the adenine, Guanine, Cytosine as that of the DNA except for the Thymine which is replaced by the uracil. Adenine and uracil are considered as the major building blocks of RNA and both of them form base-pair with the help of 2 hydrogen bonds.
RNA resembles a hairpin structure and like the nucleotides in DNA, nucleotides are formed in this ribonucleic material(RNA). Nucleosides are nothing but the phosphate groups which sometimes also helps in the production of nucleotides in the DNA.
Read More: Structure of RNA