Question of the Week

Biobasics Question of the Week:

Which of the nucleic acids –DNA or RNA - is susceptible to alkaline hydrolysis? Why?

Biobasics Solution:

RNA is susceptible to alkaline hydrolysis because of the presence of 2´ hydroxyl group in Ribose sugar of RNA. In contrast, DNA has deoxyribose sugar which contains -H atom at 2´ position instead of –OH of ribose, hence rendering the DNA molecule resistant to alkaline hydrolysis. (Note that both the Nucleic acids are susceptible to acidic hydrolysis).