BIOL 1001 Chapter : Biol 1001 Chap11
Document Summary
--genes are the units of heredity and are made of nucleic acid (dna). --nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides linked together by dehydration synthesis reactions. --nucleotides are the building block molecules of a nucleic acid and are composed of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. The sugar is a 5-carbon sugar in a ring conformation. The sugar and phosphate groups form the nucleic acid backbone. Nucleic acid backbone has directionality (3" versus 5") --pyrimidines are nitrogenous bases characterized by a six-membered ring made up of carbon and nitrogen atoms. --purines are nitrogenous bases characterized by a five-membered ring fused to a six-membered ring where both rings are made up of carbon and nitrogen atoms. Variation in dna and rna comes from the order of the nucleotides (i. e. , dna sequence) In the mid-1920"s, griffith working with streptococcus pneumoniae demonstrated that genetic material could be transferred from one bacteria to another. (see fig.
