Nucleic Acids: Structure and Function worksheet with labeled diagrams of nucleotides, DNA, and RNA.

You’re working on a worksheet titled “Nucleic Acids: Structure and Function”, which asks you to connect diagrams (A–J) with their correct labels (1–24). Some labels may be used more than once — meaning multiple diagrams might share the same label.

Let’s go step by step to match each diagram with its correct term(s).

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## 🔍 STEP 1: Identify what each diagram shows

Diagrams A–J:

- A: Purine base — Adenine (double-ring structure)
- B: Pyrimidine base — Cytosine (single-ring)
- C: Pyrimidine base — Thymine (single-ring, methyl group)
- D: Pyrimidine base — Uracil (single-ring, no methyl group — found in RNA)
- E: Nucleotide — sugar + phosphate + base (likely deoxyribose for DNA)
- F: Nucleotide — sugar + phosphate + base (ribose for RNA — OH on 2’ carbon)
- G: Sugar — Deoxyribose (no OH on 2’ carbon)
- H: Sugar — Ribose (has OH on 2’ carbon)
- I: Double helix — DNA
- J: Single strand — RNA

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## 📋 STEP 2: Match diagrams to labels (1–24)

Let’s go label by label and see which diagrams they apply to.

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1. purine mononucleotide → E, F

*(Both E and F are nucleotides; E has adenine/purine, F could have purine too — but typically “purine mononucleotide” refers to any nucleotide with a purine base like adenine or guanine. Since E and F are generic nucleotides, both can be labeled as such if they contain purines. But since we don’t know the base in F, it’s safer to say only E if it’s adenine. However, in context, both E and F represent nucleotides, so this label likely applies to both.)*

✔ E, F

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2. deoxyribose → G

*(G is clearly deoxyribose — missing OH on 2’ carbon)*

✔ G

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3. ribose → H

*(H has OH on 2’ carbon — ribose)*

✔ H

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4. thymine → C

*(C is thymine — pyrimidine with methyl group)*

✔ C

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5. hypoxanthine → Not shown

*(This is a purine derivative, not standard in DNA/RNA — not depicted here)*

✘ *No match*

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6. monophosphate → E, F

*(Both E and F show a phosphate group attached — so they are monophosphates)*

✔ E, F

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7. purine → A

*(A is adenine — a purine base)*

✔ A

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8. pyrimidine → B, C, D

*(B = cytosine, C = thymine, D = uracil — all pyrimidines)*

✔ B, C, D

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9. RNA → J, F, H, D

*(J = RNA strand, F = RNA nucleotide, H = ribose (RNA sugar), D = uracil (RNA base))*

✔ J, F, H, D

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10. DNA → I, E, G, C, A

*(I = DNA double helix, E = DNA nucleotide, G = deoxyribose, C = thymine, A = adenine — all DNA components)*

✔ I, E, G, C, A

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11. RNA nucleotide → F

*(F has ribose sugar — so it’s an RNA nucleotide)*

✔ F

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12. DNA nucleotide → E

*(E has deoxyribose — so it’s a DNA nucleotide)*

✔ E

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13. 5' end → I, J

*(Both DNA and RNA strands have 5’ ends — shown at top of I and J)*

✔ I, J

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14. 3' end → I, J

*(Bottom of strands — 3’ end)*

✔ I, J

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15. adenine → A

*(A is adenine — purine base)*

✔ A

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16. cytosine → B

*(B is cytosine — pyrimidine base)*

✔ B

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17. guanine → Not shown

*(Guanine is a purine, but not drawn separately — A is adenine, not guanine)*

✘ *No match*

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18. uracil → D

*(D is uracil — RNA base)*

✔ D

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19. normally single stranded → J

*(RNA is usually single-stranded)*

✔ J

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20. normally double stranded → I

*(DNA is double-stranded)*

✔ I

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21. made from nitrogenous base, sugar, phosphate → E, F

*(Both are nucleotides — composed of base + sugar + phosphate)*

✔ E, F

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22. stores hereditary info → I, E, G, C, A

*(DNA stores genetic info — so I, and its components)*

✔ I, E, G, C, A

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23. transmits info from genes → J, F, H, D

*(RNA transmits genetic info — mRNA, etc.)*

✔ J, F, H, D

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24. information passed from one generation to next → I, E, G, C, A

*(DNA carries hereditary info across generations)*

✔ I, E, G, C, A

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## ✔ FINAL MATCHING ANSWER KEY:

| Label | Diagram(s) |
|-------|------------|
| 1 | E, F |
| 2 | G |
| 3 | H |
| 4 | C |
| 5 | — |
| 6 | E, F |
| 7 | A |
| 8 | B, C, D |
| 9 | J, F, H, D |
| 10 | I, E, G, C, A |
| 11 | F |
| 12 | E |
| 13 | I, J |
| 14 | I, J |
| 15 | A |
| 16 | B |
| 17 | — |
| 18 | D |
| 19 | J |
| 20 | I |
| 21 | E, F |
| 22 | I, E, G, C, A |
| 23 | J, F, H, D |
| 24 | I, E, G, C, A |

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## 💡 TIPS FOR STUDENTS:

- Purines = Adenine & Guanine (double ring) → A
- Pyrimidines = Cytosine, Thymine, Uracil (single ring) → B, C, D
- DNA = deoxyribose (G), thymine (C), double helix (I)
- RNA = ribose (H), uracil (D), single strand (J)
- Nucleotides = base + sugar + phosphate → E (DNA), F (RNA)
- Ends: 5’ and 3’ are on both DNA and RNA strands → I, J
- Heredity = stored in DNA → I, E, G, C, A
- Info transmission = RNA → J, F, H, D

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