Top Questions What are nucleic acids?

Chemical structure
Whereas DNA provides the genetic information for the cell and is inherently quite stable, RNA has many roles and is much more reactive chemically. RNA is sensitive to oxidizing agents such as periodate that lead to opening of the 3′-terminal ribose ring. The 2′-hydroxyl group on the ribose ring is a major cause of instability in RNA, because the presence of alkali leads to rapid cleavage of the phosphodiester bond linking ribose and phosphate groups. In general, this instability is not a significant problem for the cell, because RNA is constantly being synthesized and degraded.
Interactions between the nitrogen-containing bases differ in DNA and RNA. In DNA, which is usually double-stranded, the bases in one strand pair with complementary bases in a second DNA strand. In RNA, which is usually single-stranded, the bases pair with other bases within the same molecule, leading to complex three-dimensional structures. Occasionally, intermolecular RNA/RNA duplexes do form, but they form a right-handed A-type helix rather than the B-type DNA helix. Depending on the amount of salt present, either 11 or 12 base pairs are found in each turn of the helix. Helices between RNA and DNA molecules also form; these adopt the A-type conformation and are more stable than either RNA/RNA or DNA/DNA duplexes. Such hybrid duplexes are important species in biology, being formed when RNA polymerase transcribes DNA into mRNA for protein synthesis and when reverse transcriptase copies a viral RNA genome such as that of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Single-stranded RNAs are flexible molecules that form a variety of structures through internal base pairing and additional non-base pair interactions. They can form hairpin loops such as those found in transfer RNA (tRNA), as well as longer-range interactions involving both the bases and the phosphate residues of two or more nucleotides. This leads to compact three-dimensional structures. Most of these structures have been inferred from biochemical data, since few crystallographic images are available for RNA molecules. In some types of RNA, a large number of bases are modified after the RNA is transcribed. More than 90 different modifications have been documented, including extensive methylations and a wide variety of substitutions around the ring. In some cases these modifications are known to affect structure and are essential for function.