THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF INHERITANCE
STRUCTURE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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single stranded
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double stranded
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Detailed explanation-1: -Unlike DNA, however, RNA is most often single-stranded. An RNA molecule has a backbone made of alternating phosphate groups and the sugar ribose, rather than the deoxyribose found in DNA. Attached to each sugar is one of four bases: adenine (A), uracil (U), cytosine (C) or guanine (G).
Detailed explanation-2: -Which molecule is always single-stranded? RNA is always single-stranded and is often referred to as single-stranded ribonucleic acid. This can be seen in Figure 1 below. However, DNA can be either double-stranded or a single strand of DNA (ssDNA).
Detailed explanation-3: -There are two reasons why RNA is generally single-stranded: RNAses are extremely abundant in most cells. Usually, double-stranded RNA is associated with a viral infection and is destroyed rapidly. Double-stranded RNA is not as stable as double-stranded DNA.
Detailed explanation-4: -Like DNA, RNA is assembled as a chain of nucleotides, but unlike DNA, RNA is found in nature as a single strand folded onto itself, rather than a paired double strand.