DNA Vs RNA

DNA RNA
Usual genetic material Genetic material of some viruses
Usually double stranded Mostly single stranded (sometimes may de double stranded)
Pentose sugar is deoxyribose Pentose sugar is ribose
The nitrogen bases present are adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine Thymine is replaced by uracil
Adenine pairs with thymine and guanine pairs with cytosine Adenine pairs with uracil and guanine with cytosine
Pairing of bases is throughout the length of molecule Pairing of bases is only in the helical region
Fewer uncommon bases More uncommon bases
Most of the DNA is found on the chromosome, some also found in cytoplasm mRNA is formed on the chromosome and found in nucleolus and cytoplasm, rRNA and tRNA also formed on the chromosome and found in cytoplasm.
Replicate and transcribe Do not replicate and transcribe (in certain viruses, RNA synthesize RNA chain)
Large number of nucleotides (4.3 million) Fewer nucleotides (up to 12000)
Function – To carry genetic message Function – To synthesize proteins using information coded on DNA