Informative Facts About Nucleic Acid Everyone Should Be Aware Of

Nucleic acid is a molecule that is found in the cells of all living organisms, and is essential for all life.

The functions of nucleic acids have to do with the storage and expression of genetic information. It plays a key role in the transmission of genetic information from one generation to the next. 

Nucleic acid is made up of nitrogenous bases, phosphate groups, and sugar molecules. Each type has a different structure and plays a different role in the cell.

The nitrogenous base is essential for the structure and function of nucleic acid. There are four nitrogenous bases, adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). These nitrogenous bases are attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate group to form a nucleotide.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), for instance, encodes the information a cell needs to make proteins. DNA is made up of four nitrogen-containing bases, adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. The sequence of nitrogenous bases in DNA determines the genetic information that is passed from one generation to the next.

While ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a type of nucleic acid that plays a key role in the cell. It comes in different molecular forms that participate in protein synthesis and is made up of nitrogenous bases, phosphate groups, and sugar molecules.

However, although related, RNA has a different structure to DNA. The nitrogenous bases are attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate group, but they are not attached.

This allows RNA to fold into complex shapes that can interact with other proteins in the cell. RNA can be used to create proteins, or it can be used as an enzyme to catalyze biochemical reactions.

To read more nucleic acid facts, read on below.

Historical Facts

Swiss researcher Friedrich Miescher first introduced the concept of DNA in 1869, when he was examining the composition of lymphoid cells. In the process, he came across a new molecule, nuclein, in the cell nucleus.

Although it was Miescher who discovered this, later many other researchers added contributions, and it took till 1940 to discover the process of genetic inheritance.

According to molecular biology, in double-stranded nucleic acids, there are complementary sequences with double-helical three-dimensional molecular structures, but it is absent in single-stranded nucleic acids.

Occurrence And Nomenclature

Nucleic acid was discovered in the nucleus and was later found relatable to phosphoric acid. Initially, nucleic acid was found in the eukaryotic cell's nucleus, but later it was seen in bacteria, viruses, archaea, chloroplasts, and mitochondria. However, for viruses, it is quite controversial because, unlike most cells, viruses don't have both DNA and RNA. 

Nucleic acid comprises a nucleotide, and nucleotide is made of ribose or deoxyribose, which consists of pentose sugar, a phosphate group, and a nucleobase.

By using solid-phase chemical systems, nucleic acid can be made artificially in the lab with enzymes, such as DNA or RNA polymerases.

(Chemists have formed artificial nucleic acids, such as peptide nucleic acids.)

Molecular Composition And Size

Nucleic acids are generally large molecules, and DNA molecules, with their base pairs and long strands, are the largest in our body. Sizes can vary between small interfering single-stranded RNA and human chromosome 1.

Nucleic acids basically appear as linear polymers of nucleotides with a purine or pyrimidine nucleobase, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group. The substructure, nucleosides, comprises a nucleobase and sugar.

In the substructure, DNA has 2' deoxyribose, but RNA has ribose, and here, the presence of the hydroxyl group makes a difference. Adenine, guanine, and cytosine are common nitrogen bases in DNA and RNA, but thymine is found only in DNA, while uracil is present in RNA.

In nucleic acids, sugar and phosphate are bridged through phosphodiester linkages in the sugar-phosphate backbone. According to conventional nomenclature, phosphate groups are tied up with the 5' and 3' end carbon atoms, which causes the directionality of nucleic acids.

The nucleobases are strapped with sugar with an N-glycosidic linkage. It involves nucleobase ring nitrogen and a pentose sugar ring.

Types And Function

Mainly, there are three types of nucleic acids: Deoxyribonucleic acid, ribonucleic acid, and artificial nucleic acid.

DNA possesses all the genetic material for development and functioning in living organisms and is one of the major macromolecules for life. DNA is made of nucleotides and phosphate groups, but both are anti-parallel and linked to nucleobases.

In eukaryotic living cells, DNA is stored in the nucleus or organelles, but in prokaryotic organisms, DNA remains in the cytoplasm. Ribonucleic acid is responsible for the transmission of the human genome or genetic information to amino-acid sequences of proteins.

The three types are tRNA, mRNA, rRNA. Transmission between DNA and ribosomes happens with Messenger RNA.

Ribosomal RNA can read DNA sequences, and Transfer RNA, a carrier molecule, is important in protein production. Chemists have synthesized many artificial nucleic acids with various chemical compounds, such as peptide nucleic acid, threose nucleic acid, glycol nucleic acid, morpholino, and locked nucleic acid.

Other Facts

In nucleic acid, there are linear and circular molecules.

Bacterial chromosomes, mitochondrial DNA, plasmids, and chloroplast DNA are circular molecules, and the linear molecules are the chromosome of the eukaryotic nucleus and most RNA.

The amount of purines and pyrimidines in double-stranded DNA is the same. The sequence of nucleotides is responsible for differentiating DNA or RNA. Nucleotide sequences transmit ultimate genetic information.

Nucleic Acid FAQs

What are nucleic acids?

Nucleic acids are responsible for storing genetic information in the human body.

Who discovered nucleic acid?

Friedrich Miescher discovered nucleic acid.

Where are nucleic acids found in the body?

You can find nucleic acids in the nucleus.

Where do we get nucleic acids from?

Nucleic acids are found in the eukaryotic cell's nucleus.

Who named DNA nucleic acid?

Albrecht Kossel named DNA.

How many nucleic acids are there?

DNA, RNA, mRNA, tRNA, rRNAs are the five different but common nucleic acids.

Why are nucleic acids acidic?

Nucleic acids are acidic due to the phosphate group within them.

What elements are in nucleic acids?

Elements in nucleic acid are oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and phosphorous.

What foods have nucleic acids?

There are a few vegetables that possess nucleic acids, such as spinach, mushrooms, beans, peas, cauliflower, lentils, and asparagus.

What would happen without nucleic acids?

Without nucleic acids, mitosis in plants or meiosis in animals will not happen, and organisms will not grow.