Explain the structure and function of different types of RNA.

Explanation

Ribonucleic acid (RNA): Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA is single stranded and is unstable when compared to DNA.

Types of RNA :
1. mRNA (messenger RNA) - Single stranded, carries a copy of instructions for assembling amino acids into proteins.
2. It is very unstable and comprises 5% of total RNA polymer.
3. Prokaryotic mRNA(Polycistronic) carry coding sequences for many polypeptides.
4. Eukaryotic mRNA (Monocistronic) contains infonnation for only one polypeptide.
5. tRNA (transfer RNA) - Translates the code from mRNA and transfers amino acids to the ribosome to build proteins.
6. It is highly folded into an elaborate 3D structure and comprises about 15% of total RNA.
7. It is also called as soluble RNA.
8. rRNA (ribosomal RNA) - Single stranded, metabolically stable, make up the two subunits of ribosomes.
9. It constitutes 80% of the total RNA. It is a polymer with varied length from 120 - 3000 nucleotides and gives ribosomes their shape.
10. Genes for rRNA are highly conserved and employed for phylogenetic studies