The Structure of DNA

The Structure of DNA

DNA(Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is
composed oftwo Polynucleotide
Strands(thepolymers of
nucleotides), which form what looks
like a ladder. TheNitrogenous
Basesin DNA store the instructions
for making polypeptide chains,
essentially coding for every feature
of the entire organism.

 The two polynucleotide strands run

'antiparallel' to each other, with
Nitrogenous Bases projecting
inwards. The term 'antiparallel'
means that the strands run
inopposite directions, parallelto
one another. The antiparallel
strandstwistin a complete DNA
structure, forming aDouble Helix

 The strands are held together

byHydrogen Bondsbetween the
Nitrogenous Bases that are opposite
each other.
Bases bonded together are termed
'paired', and arevery specificas to
which Base they will join to.

 APurinewill only pair with

aPyrimidine.
Adenine Purinewill only pair
with theThymine
Pyrimidine(A-T),
Guanine Purinewill only pair
with theCytosine
Pyrimidine(G-C).
These base pairings are
termedComplementary Base

 The reason that Purines will only bond with

Pyrimidines is that Purines are larger
molecules(composed of a double ring
structure), so in order to ensure that the
polynucleotide strands areequally spaced
apart, the larger Bases must pair with the
smaller bases.
The root for the specific Complementary
Base Pairings is thenumber of Hydrogen
bonding sites available.
AdenineandThyminehavetwo sites each,
whereas
Guanine andCytosinehavethree sites each.

QUIZ
Which is the correct base pairing in
DNA?
A Adenine with cytosine, guanine with
thymine
B Adenine with thymine, cytosine with
guanine
C Adenine with uracil, cytosine with
guanine
D Adenine with guanine, cytosine with
thymine

2. What is the basic structure of a

purine?
A A chain of nitrogenous bases
B A single ring formed from carbon,
hydrogen,
oxygen, and chlorine
C A single ring of carbon, hydrogen
and nitrogen
D A double ring formed from carbon,
hydrogen and nitrogen

3 What is this molecule?

A Adenine
B Purine
C Guanine
D Pyrimidine