Nucleotides: Composition and Structure

1. List the types and pricipal functions of the nucleic acids.

2. Draw the pyrimidine and purine bases.

3. List the principal chemical building blocks the comprise ribonucleosides, ribonucleotides and draw ATP.

4. Describe the secondary structures of DNA and RNA.

5. List the ways that DNA and RNA can be cleaved or degraded.

6. Define the following terms: double-helix, antiparallel, complementarity, groove, T_m, hyperchromic shift, hybridization.

Amino Acids/Proteins

1. List the two functional groups every amino acid posses.

2. Classify each amino acid according to the chemical nature of its side chain.

3. Draw the reaction in which two amino acids join to form a peptide bond.

4. Explain how a polypeptide can be hydrophobic, hydrophilic or amphiphilic based on its amino acid sequence (primary structure).

5. Define secondary structure of proteins and describe the two most common types of secondary structure.

6. Explain why proline is incompatible with an a-helix.

7. Define tertiary and quaternary structure and explain how the hydrophobic effect is a major driving force in the conformation of proteins in aqueous environments.

© Dr. Noel Sturm 2004