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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Is a six-carbon sugar and the sugar in RNA is a five-carbon sugar
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Can form a double-stranded molecule
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Can attach to a phosphate
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Contains one less oxygen atom
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Detailed explanation-1: -Answer and Explanation: The correct answer is (d) Ribose has one more oxygen atom. As the name deoxyribonucleic acid suggests, the sugar of DNA differs from that of RNA in that it lacks an oxygen atom. Particularly, DNA lacks a hydroxyl (-OH) group on the 2’ carbon of the sugar ring.
Detailed explanation-2: -There are two differences that distinguish DNA from RNA: (a) RNA contains the sugar ribose, while DNA contains the slightly different sugar deoxyribose (a type of ribose that lacks one oxygen atom), and (b) RNA has the nucleobase uracil while DNA contains thymine.
Detailed explanation-3: -Due to its deoxyribose sugar, which contains one less oxygen-containing hydroxyl group, DNA is a more stable molecule than RNA, which is useful for a molecule which has the task of keeping genetic information safe. RNA, containing a ribose sugar, is more reactive than DNA and is not stable in alkaline conditions.
Detailed explanation-4: -The really important difference is that RNA has an extra oxygen atom. This makes RNA less stable than DNA. You might think that being unstable is a bad thing, but there are advantages. Organisms that need to change rapidly tend to use RNA as their genetic material.
Detailed explanation-5: -Ribose is made of five carbon atoms, ten hydrogen atoms and five oxygen atoms.