What is the difference between DNA and RNA? DNA/RNA difference.

DNA/RNA                          

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic acid (RNA) are perhaps the most important molecules in cell biology, responsible for the storage and reading of genetic information that underpins all life. They are both linear polymers, consisting of sugars, phosphates, and bases, but there are some key differences which separate the two.

DNA contains deoxyribose sugar but RNA contains Ribose sugar. As you know Oxygen is removed from carbon no.2 of deoxyribose sugar. DNA is a double-stranded molecule while RNA is a single-stranded molecule. DNA is more stable while RNA is less stable. DNA has thiamine while RNA has uracil5. DNA contains coding (exons) as well as non-coding (introns) while RNA has only coding genes. Introns are removed in mature RNA by a splicing mechanism.

Properties	DNA	RNA
Definition	It is a long polymer. It has a deoxyribose and phosphate backbone having four distinct bases: thymine, adenine, cytosine, and guanine.	Is a polymer with a ribose and phosphate backbone with four varying bases: uracil, cytosine, adenine, and guanine.
Function	DNA is functional is the transmission of genetic information. It forms a medium for long-term storage.	RNA is functional is the transmission of the genetic code that is necessary for the protein creation from the nucleus to the ribosome
Synthesis	DNA replicates on its own, it is self-replicating.	RNA does not replicate on its own. It is synthesized from DNA when required.
Nitrogenous Bases and Pairing	The base pairing is as follows: GC (Guanine pairs with Cytosine) A-T (Adenine pairs with Thymine).	The base pairing is as follows: GC (Guanine pairs with Cytosine) A-U (Adenine pairs with Uracil).
Types	1-A-DNA:  It has the broadest helical diameter amongst all DNA forms – 23A0. It is right-handed with a rotation of 32.70 per base pair. 2-B-DNA:  It has 10 base pairs per turn from the helix axis. There is a distance of 3.4A0 with a helical diameter of 20A0. Watson-Crick’s double helix model is defined as a B-form of DNA. 3-Z-DNA:  It is a left-handed helical structure.	1-tRNA; The transfer RNA or the tRNA carries amino acids to ribosomes while translation 2-mRNA; The messenger RNA encodes amino acid sequences of a polypeptide 3-rRNA;  The ribosomal RNA produces ribosomes with the ribosomal proteins that are organelles responsible for the translation of the mRNA. 4-snRNA; The small nuclear RNA forms the complexes along with proteins which are utilized in RNA processing in the eukaryotes.

References

1.     Gillespie, D., & Spiegelman, S. (1965). A quantitative assay for DNA-RNA hybrids with DNA immobilized on a membrane. Journal of molecular biology, 12(3), 829-842.

2.     Tan, S. C., & Yap, B. C. (2009). DNA, RNA, and protein extraction: the past and the present. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2009.

3.     Srinivasan, J., Cheatham, T. E., Capelan, P., Kalman, P. A., & Case, D. A. (1998). Continuum solvent studies of the stability of DNA, RNA, and phosphoramidite− DNA helices. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 120(37), 9401-9409.

4.     Cheatham, T. E., & Kalman, P. A. (1997). Molecular dynamics simulations highlight the structural differences among DNA: DNA, RNA: RNA, and DNA: RNA hybrid duplexes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 119(21), 4805-4825.