What is ribonucleic acid?
Biologically important molecule, ribonucleic acid (RNA) is in some respects similar to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), but has some important structural and functional differences. There are several types of ribonucleic acid, each of which plays a different role in the cell. Ribonucleic acids perform several basic tasks in protein synthesis and are involved in the gene regulation.
RNA and DNA are called nucleic acids and share a similar basic structure. Both types of nucleic acid are formed by units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of three molecules: phosphate, sugar and nitrogen. There are several different nitrogen bases and it is the sequence of these molecules that allows DNA and RNA to store and transmit information about long -term and daily cell maintenance.
Although they share some similarities, ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid molecules differ in three important ways. First, the RNAE molecules are single -fiber, while DNA is a two -grain molecule. For a druHé, RNA contains sugar called ribosis and DNA contains sugar called deoxyribosis. The third difference is that in the DNA is an additional pair of bases for Adenin thymin; While in RNA the basic pair for Adenin's modified version of thymine known as Uracil.
There are three main types of ribonucleic acid. These are transmission RNA (TRNA), Messenger RNA (MRNA) and Ribosomal RNA (RRNA). These three molecules are structurally similar, but perform very different functions.
Messenger RNA is a product of a process called transcription. In this process, the genetic code carried in the DNA part is copied, resulting in a MRNA synthesis. MRNA is an exact copy of a part of the DNA that encodes one protein. After being made, this mare travels from the nucleus of the cell to the cytoplasm, where a new cellular process is subject to a different type of ribonucleic acid.
in the cytoplasm of the cell comes with MRNA into contact with transmission moleculesRNA. RNA transmission helps produce proteins by transporting amino acids to the site of protein synthesis. The thorn uses MRNA molecules as a template to build a protein protein by "reading" MRNA molecules to determine the order in which amino acids are placed in a protein chain. This process is called a translation.
The third type of RNA, Ribosomal RNA, is the place where translation occurs. Ribosomal molecules RNA are a place in which the MRNA is translated into proteins. Ribosomal RNA helps in this process by interacting with RNA Messenger molecules and transmission and action as a place of enzymatic activity.
Other types of ribonucleic acid are micro RNA and two -column RNA. Micro RNA is used by cell control of Messenger RNA transcription and can increase or decg the speed at which a particular gene is made of proteins. The dual -band RNA, which is found in certain types of viruses, can enter cells and disrupt the translation and transcription processes in a similar way to the micro RNA.