question_answer 40)

  Nucleic acids exhibit secondary structure, justify with example.

Answer:

                  Nucleic acids are polymeric macromolecules or large biological molecules, essential for allknown forms of life. The secondary structure of a nucleic acid molecule refers to the basepairing interactions within a single molecule or set of interacting molecules. DNA and RNA represent two main nucleic acids, however their secondary structures differe.g., the secondary structure of DNA comprises of two complementary strands of polydeoxyribonucleotide, spirally coiled on a common axis forming a helical structure. This double helical structure of DNA is stabilised by phosphodiester bonds (between 5' ofsugar of one nucleotide and 3 of sugar of another nucleotide), hydrogen bonds (betweenbases, i.e., hydrogen of one base and nitrogen of oxygen of other base) and ionic interactions.