Question

When RNA is hydrolysed, there is no relationship among the quantities of different bases obtained. What does this fact suggest about the structure of RNA?

Answer 1

A DNA molecule is double-stranded in which the pairing of bases occurs. Adenine always pairs with thymine, while cytosine always pairs with guanine. Therefore, on hydrolysis of DNA, the quantity of adenine produced is equal to that of thymine and similarly, the quantity of cytosine is equal to that of guanine.

But when RNA is hydrolyzed, there is no relationship among the quantities of the different bases obtained. Hence, RNA is single-stranded.

Answer 2

A DNA molecule has two strands in which the four complementary bases pair each other, i.e., cytosine (C) always pair with guanine (G) while thymine (T) always pairs with adenine (A). Thus, when a DNA molecule is hydrolysed, the molar amounts of cytosine is always equal to that of guanine and that of adenine is always equal to thymine.In RNA, there is no relationship between the quantities of four bases (C, G, A and U) obtained, therefore, the base pairing principle, i.e. A pairs with U and C pairs with G is not followed. Therefore, unlike DNA, RNA has a single strand