AAMC FL Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Study for the AAMC FL Exam. Prepare with comprehensive flashcards and multiple-choice questions, each equipped with hints and explanations. Gear up for your medical school entrance exam!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What distinguishes ribose sugar in RNA from deoxyribose sugar?

It has a 3' OH
It has a 2' OH
It has less oxygen
It is a hexose sugar

The correct answer is: It has a 2' OH

Ribose sugar in RNA is characterized by having a hydroxyl (OH) group attached to the 2' carbon atom. This differentiates ribose from deoxyribose, which is the sugar found in DNA. In deoxyribose, the hydroxyl group at the 2' carbon is absent, and instead, this position only has a hydrogen atom, hence the name "deoxy," meaning it lacks an oxygen atom at that position. The presence of the 2' OH in ribose contributes to the structural properties of RNA, influencing its stability and the types of reactions it can participate in, such as self-cleavage and interactions with proteins. This is essential for the function of RNA in various biological processes, including protein synthesis and catalysis. Understanding this distinction is vital because it helps elucidate why RNA is generally less stable than DNA, which is a key factor in biological contexts like RNA's transient role in the cell versus the more stable, long-term storage of genetic information in DNA.