Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is the material that contains hereditary information in all the living beings, these are regarded as a set of genetic instructions used for further developing the organisms and other functions. At the same time, RNA or Ribonucleic acid play the role in protein synthesis and also in the transmission of genetic information. DNA is double helical structure while RNA is single stranded.
As the name suggests DNA contains deoxyribose and lacks one oxygen atoms; RNA contains ribose and can be of more than one type. DNA contains nitrogenous bases like Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), and Thymine (T) whereas Uracil (U) is present instead of Thymine (T) in RNA.
DNA and RNA as well proteins play a vital role right from the beginning of the formation of a new cell till it’s assigned job get accomplished. DNA and RNA may seem similar, but their function vary. Although they work coordinately so a proper functioning of a body goes on. In this article, we will go through the difference between two of these, along with the brief discussion.
Content: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Vs Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
|Basis For Comparison||Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)||Ribonucleic acid (RNA)|
|Meaning||DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic acid consisting of double-stranded molecule consisting a long chain of nucleotide's.||RNA stands for Ribonucleic acid is single-stranded helix consisting of shorter chains of nucleotide's.|
|Nitrogenous base||Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G).||Adenine (A), Uracil (U), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G).
|Base pairing||AT (adenine-thymine) CG (guanine-cytosine).||AU (adenine-uracil) CG (guanine-cytosine).|
|Helix form||B form of double-stranded structure presently, consisting long chains of nucleotides.||A form and is single stranded, consisting of shorter chains of nucleotides.|
|Radiations to Ultra-violet rays||DNA can be damaged.||RNA is resistant to UV rays.|
|Reactivity||Less reactive due to the presence of C-H bond.||More reactive due to the presence of C-OH (hydroxyl) bond.|
|Replication||DNA is self replicating.||RNA is synthesised from DNA.|
|Stability in alkaline conditions||DNA is stable.||RNA are unstable.|
|Types||No types.||Three types - mRNA, tRNA, rRNA.|
|Function||Plays role in storing of genetic information, for further development and organisations of other cells.||It helps coding, decoding, gene expression, and protein synthesis.|
Definition of DNA
DNA plays a vital role in storing the genetic information in all kinds of organisms whether it is a prokaryotes or eukaryotes, as well it stores information of each cell’s working and its structure. Largely found in nucleus but also found in mitochondria, chloroplast, etc. All these statistics are stored in the nucleus of each cell so that all cells have similar DNA in their nucleus when they split.
Later on, when this cell divides into two daughter cells, along with their nucleus giving rise to two identical cells. This is the reason why parent and their children’s seem to be identical, as DNA material is inherited from parent to the offspring, and hence sharing similar traits.
As the name says, that DNA contains deoxyribose sugar and a long chain of nucleotide. These nucleotides are named as Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine(G), Thymine (T). Adenine (A) and Guanine (G) are called purines and Cytosine (C), Thymine (T) are called as pyrimidines.
The A-T bonding is of two hydrogen bonding, while C-G bonding is of three hydrogen bonds. The main purpose of DNA is to inform about the kind of protein, which is to be made, which will further define the function of a cell.
As the structure of DNA is double helical, it looks like a twisted ladder in a spiral shape. Each step of a ladder consisting of a pair of nucleotides, storing the genetic information. DNA contains C-H bond, due to which it is less reactive and hence stable in alkaline conditions. Even the small grooves present in the double helical structure provides less or no place for damaging enzymes to get attached.
Definition of RNA
RNA is as important as DNA as it helps in transferring the genetic code required for the synthesis of proteins from the nucleus to the ribosome. It also helps in coding, decoding, regulation and gene expression. This keeps DNA and other genetic material safe. Likewise DNA, RNA also contains four nucleotides Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G) and Uracil (U).
Each RNA is made up of ribose sugars, the backbone of these are attached to phosphate group and bases. The bonding is between G-C and A-U bases. These nucleotides are made up of shorter chains and they are single-stranded. Due to the presence of C-OH (hydroxyl bonds), ribose is more reactive and are not stable in alkaline conditions.
mRNA, rRNA, and tRNA are the three major types of RNA.
mRNA is called messenger RNA, the process of transcription is completed using enzyme RNA polymerase. In this RNA polymerase decodes the genetic information from DNA. This mRNA carries information to direct the makeup of protein, required by the body.
tRNA is called transfer RNA, with the help of proteins and other RNA together form a complex that can read mRNA and translate the carrying information into proteins and also helps in delivering amino acids to the ribosomes where rRNA (ribosomal RNA) creates a protein by linking with amino acids.
Key Differences Between Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Though above we discuss the DNA and RNA in details, following are key differences between them:
- The key difference between DNA and RNA is that DNA is double-stranded structure, while RNA is single stranded structure.
- The backbone of DNA is of deoxyribose sugar which is made up of a long chain of nucleotides, while RNA is of the ribose sugar and short chain of nucleotides.
- The base pairing of guanine (G) is with cytosine (C) while adenine (A) is with thymine (T) in DNA and adenine with uracil (U) in RNA.
- The function of DNA is to store the genetic information and pass it to other cells also, while RNA functions in coding, decoding and protein synthesis.
From the above discussion, we can say that DNA and RNA both are equally important, as one contains genetic material which is required to be transferred for further body development and functioning, while RNA helps coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes.