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In RNA, uracil is substitued for thymine. In DNA, there is no uracil present. Thymine pairs with Adenine, and Cytosine pairs with Guanine. Uracil is ONLY in RNA. Never will uracil be in DNA.

Chemically, uracil only differers from thymine in that it does not have a methyl group attached to C5, but only a hydrogen.

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What is the nitrogenous bases in RNA differ from those in DNA?

Three bases are identical in both DNA and RNA: adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). The fourth base in RNA is uracil (U); in DNA it is thymine (T). The difference between these two is small: U lacks a methyl group. A and G are purines; C, T, and U are pyrimidines, which are smaller.


What are the three main differences between RNA and DNA?

- The sugar in RNA is ribose, and in DNA the sugar is deoxyribose. - RNA is usually single stranded, DNA is double-stranded helix. - RNA contains uracil instead of thymine. DNA does contain thymine. Like thymine, uracil can form a hydrogen bond with adenine. =]


What base in mRNA can only join with uracil base of tRNA?

tRNA (t=transfer), being RNA, has 4 bases: adenine, uracil, cytosine, and guanine. This differs from DNA in that DNA has thymine rather than uracil. It has 3 of these 4 bases: A, U, G or C. (Adenine, Uracil, Guanine, or Cytosine) at the anticodon spot.


Why does uracil replace thymine in RNA?

Funnily enough, it is probably the other way round! Scientists believe, for various reasons, that RNA came first, and that there was an "RNA world" before DNA evolved. If this idea is correct, uracil was a component of nucleic acids before thymine. When DNA evolved, thymine may have proved a preferable material for storing genetic information because of its much greater stability; RNA breaks down relatively quickly, but DNA is stabilized by its double-stranded form. RNA is easily hydrolised than DNA. It is interesting to note that in our own bodies we can synthesize RNA from simpler compounds, but to make DNA we first build RNA nucleotides, then convert them. We remove one oxygen atom from the ribose component of the nucleotide, to form deoxyribose. Then, if the base is uracil, we add a methyl group to it to form thymine. But this leaves the question: what advantage does thymine have over uracil in DNA? One suggestion is this: cytosine (C) occasionally converts into uracil (U) by deamination. If this U is not removed, at the next replication it will act as a template for an adenine (A) on the new strand, and there will have been a mutation from G to A. Having thymine (T) as the regular base in DNA makes it easy for a cell to spot a deamination, because U should not be there at all. The cell then removes the U with a DNA repair enzyme (e.g. uracil glycosylase).


How is DNA different than RNA?

DNA is double-stranded, with deoxyribose sugar and thymine base. RNA is single-stranded, with ribose sugar and uracil base. DNA stores genetic information, while RNA helps in protein synthesis and various cellular functions.

Related Questions

What base is not present in the nucleotides of RNA?

RNA has the base uracil rather than thymine that is present in DNA, so the answer to you question is.. thymine.


What is the nitrogenous bases in RNA differ from those in DNA?

Three bases are identical in both DNA and RNA: adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). The fourth base in RNA is uracil (U); in DNA it is thymine (T). The difference between these two is small: U lacks a methyl group. A and G are purines; C, T, and U are pyrimidines, which are smaller.


What are the three main differences between RNA and DNA?

- The sugar in RNA is ribose, and in DNA the sugar is deoxyribose. - RNA is usually single stranded, DNA is double-stranded helix. - RNA contains uracil instead of thymine. DNA does contain thymine. Like thymine, uracil can form a hydrogen bond with adenine. =]


Why does DNA have thymine when RNA has uracil?

Cytosine bases may spontaneously change into uracil bases. DNA has an enzyme asssociated with it that corrects this fault. If DNA contained uracil as a base, the repair enzyme would have no way of distinguishing between uracils normally present in the DNA code and uracils that had formed from cytosine. Therefore thymine is present instead of uracil.


RNA differs from DNA because RNA?

DNA contains four bases i.e., adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine. In RNA each nucleotide consists of a nitrogeneous base, a ribose sugar and a phosphate group. Here thymine is replaced with Uracil(U).


What does DNA contain that RNA doesn't?

DNA contains thymine (T) base, while RNA contains uracil (U) base. DNA is double-stranded, while RNA is typically single-stranded. DNA is more stable than RNA due to the presence of deoxyribose sugar in its backbone.


What base in mRNA can only join with uracil base of tRNA?

tRNA (t=transfer), being RNA, has 4 bases: adenine, uracil, cytosine, and guanine. This differs from DNA in that DNA has thymine rather than uracil. It has 3 of these 4 bases: A, U, G or C. (Adenine, Uracil, Guanine, or Cytosine) at the anticodon spot.


How is complementary base pairing different when pairing DNA to DNA than pairing DNA to mrna?

Complementary base pairing in DNA-DNA pairing involves adenine (A) pairing with thymine (T) and cytosine (C) with guanine (G), following the rules of Watson-Crick base pairing. In DNA-mRNA pairing, uracil (U) replaces thymine, so adenine (A) pairs with uracil (U) in mRNA instead of thymine (T).


Why does uracil replace thymine in RNA?

Funnily enough, it is probably the other way round! Scientists believe, for various reasons, that RNA came first, and that there was an "RNA world" before DNA evolved. If this idea is correct, uracil was a component of nucleic acids before thymine. When DNA evolved, thymine may have proved a preferable material for storing genetic information because of its much greater stability; RNA breaks down relatively quickly, but DNA is stabilized by its double-stranded form. RNA is easily hydrolised than DNA. It is interesting to note that in our own bodies we can synthesize RNA from simpler compounds, but to make DNA we first build RNA nucleotides, then convert them. We remove one oxygen atom from the ribose component of the nucleotide, to form deoxyribose. Then, if the base is uracil, we add a methyl group to it to form thymine. But this leaves the question: what advantage does thymine have over uracil in DNA? One suggestion is this: cytosine (C) occasionally converts into uracil (U) by deamination. If this U is not removed, at the next replication it will act as a template for an adenine (A) on the new strand, and there will have been a mutation from G to A. Having thymine (T) as the regular base in DNA makes it easy for a cell to spot a deamination, because U should not be there at all. The cell then removes the U with a DNA repair enzyme (e.g. uracil glycosylase).


How is DNA different than RNA?

DNA is double-stranded, with deoxyribose sugar and thymine base. RNA is single-stranded, with ribose sugar and uracil base. DNA stores genetic information, while RNA helps in protein synthesis and various cellular functions.


What are three ways RNA is different from DNA?

The following distinguishing characteristics can be used to differentiate between DNA and RNA:Pentose sugar - the deoxyribose of DNA has one less oxygen than the ribose of RNANitrogenous bases - DNA contain adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine; RNA contains adenine, uracil, cytosine, and guanine.Strandedness - DNA is double-stranded and RNA is single-stranded.Functions - DNA stores genetic information and RNA transfers the information to other places in the cell.Location - DNA is only found in the nucleus whereas RNA can be found in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. DNA contains the information for protein synthesis; RNA carries out protein synthesis.Reactivity - DNA is less reactive due to stable C-H bonds; RNA is more reactive due to C-OH bond. DNA is stable in alkaline/basic conditions while RNA is unstable in alkaline/basic conditions.UV radiation - DNA is more easily damaged.Grooves - DNA has smaller grooves reduce enzyme ability to attach and damage while RNA has large grooves enable enzymes to attach and damage.Geometry - DNA has B-form helix geometry and RNA has A-form helix geometry


What is the difference between a DNA molecule and RNA molecule?

There are some differences between DNA and RNA 1) RNA is usually single stranded whereas DNA is double stranded 2) DNA ( Deoxyribosenucleic acid) has one less oxygen atom than RNA (Ribosenucleic acid) 3) The nucleotides in DNA differ from an RNA strand as DNA contains a Thymine nucleotide and RNA contains an Uracil nucleotide.