What are the biological properties of proteins?

The common property of all proteins is that they consist of long chains of α-amino (alpha amino) acids. The general structure of α-amino acids is shown in . The α-amino acids are so called because the α-carbon atom in the molecule carries an amino group (―NH2); the α-carbon atom also carries a carboxyl group (―COOH).

What are the properties of nucleic acids?

Nucleic acids are long chainlike molecules composed of a series of nearly identical building blocks called nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogen-containing aromatic base attached to a pentose (five-carbon) sugar, which is in turn attached to a phosphate group.

What do proteins and nucleic acids have in common?

Nucleic acids contain the same elements as proteins: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen; plus phosphorous (C, H, O, N, and P). Nucleic acids are very large macromolecules composed of repetitive units of the same building blocks, nucleotides, similar to a pearl necklace made of many pearls.

What is protein biophysics?

The study of molecular evolution at the level of protein-coding genes often entails comparing large datasets of sequences to infer their evolutionary relationships. Recently, protein biophysics has been applied to derive more accurate evolutionary accounts of sequence data.

What is the common property of amino acids?

Physical Properties Amino acids are colorless, crystalline solid. Solubility: They are soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol, and dissolve with difficulty in methanol, ethanol, and propanol. R-group of amino acids and pH of the solvent play important role in solubility.

What is the difference between proteins and nucleic acids in terms of structure?

Protein is a molecule made up of polypeptides. It is a class of biological molecule consisting of chains of amino acids called polypeptides. Nucleic acid is a class of macromolecules made up of long chain of polynucleotide that includes deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).

What part of DNA provides the code for proteins?

gene
The portion of the genome that codes for a protein or an RNA is referred to as a gene. Those genes that code for proteins are composed of tri-nucleotide units called codons, each coding for a single amino acid.

What is the difference between protein and nucleic acid?

How are nucleic acids and proteins work together?

The functions of nucleic acids have to do with the storage and expression of genetic information. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) encodes the information the cell needs to make proteins. A related type of nucleic acid, called ribonucleic acid (RNA), comes in different molecular forms that participate in protein synthesis.

What is structural biophysics?

Studies relating the structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules to function are a significant part of modern biophysics. This area of research spans a large range of topics and is well represented in the Biophysics Graduate Group at Berkeley.