Question

Explain the structure of RNA and its role.

Answer 1

RNA stands for Ribonucleic acid. RNA molecules are single stranded nucleic acids composed of nucleotides. Nucleotides of RNA contain three components:

• A Nitrogenous Base
• A Five-Carbon Sugar
• A Phosphate Group

$\bullet$ RNA nitrogenous bases include Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C) and Uracil (U). The five-carbon (pentose) sugar in RNA is ribose.
$\bullet$ RNA plays a major role in protein synthesis as it is involved in the transcription, decoding and translation of the genetic code to produce proteins.