Question

What are the four basic units of DNA?

Answer 1

DNA:

1. The hereditary substance in humans and almost all other animals is DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid.
2. Almost a single cell in a person's body contains the same DNA.
3. Nucleic acids include DNA and ribonucleic acid.
4. Base pairs are formed when two DNA bases, A with T and C with G, link together.
5. Each base is also linked to a sugar and a phosphate molecule.
6. A nucleotide is made up of a base, sugar, and phosphate.
7. Nucleotides are strung together in two long strands to form a spiral known as a double helix.

The four basic units of DNA are:

Adenine (A)

1. Adenine is a type of nucleobase.
2. It is one of the four nucleobases represented by the letters G-C-A-T in the nucleic acid of DNA.
3. The chemical formula is C₅H₅N_5.

Guanine (G)

1. Guanine is one of the four major nucleobases found in DNA and RNA, along with adenine, cytosine, and thymine.
2. Guanine is linked with cytosine in DNA.
3. Guanosine is the chemical name for guanine nucleoside
4. Three hydrogen bonds join cytosine and guanine.
5. Chemical Formula is C₅H₅N₅O.

Cytosine (C)

1. Cytosine is a pyrimidine derivative with two substituents and a heterocyclic aromatic ring attached.
2. Cytidine is the nucleoside of cytosine.
3. It creates three hydrogen bonds with guanine during Watson-Crick base pairing.
4. Cytosine can be found as a component of DNA, RNA, or as a nucleotide.
5. It can act as a cofactor for enzymes and transfer a phosphate to convert adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to adenosine triphosphate (CTP) (ATP).

Thymine (T)

1. Thymine is a pyrimidine nucleobase that is also known as 5-methyl uracil.
2. Thymine is replaced by the nucleobase uracil in RNA.
3. Thymine aids in the stabilization of nucleic acid structures.
4. DNA is made up of two strands that twist together to form a double helix.
5. Hydrogen bonds created between nucleobases arranged in opposite strands hold this double helix together.
6. Adenine and thymine form two hydrogen bonds.