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7. Structure of DNA

DNA is a polymer made of deoxynucleotides, structured as a double helix proposed by Watson and Crick in 1953. The double helix features two antiparallel strands with a hydrophilic backbone and hydrophobic bases, held together by hydrogen bonds between complementary base pairs. Key characteristics include a width of 20 Å, a pitch of 34 Å with 10 nucleotide pairs per turn, and the presence of major and minor grooves for protein interaction.

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15 views

7. Structure of DNA

DNA is a polymer made of deoxynucleotides, structured as a double helix proposed by Watson and Crick in 1953. The double helix features two antiparallel strands with a hydrophilic backbone and hydrophobic bases, held together by hydrogen bonds between complementary base pairs. Key characteristics include a width of 20 Å, a pitch of 34 Å with 10 nucleotide pairs per turn, and the presence of major and minor grooves for protein interaction.

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beenishzehra366
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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STRUCTURE OF DNA
DNA is a polymer of deoxyribonucleotides (or simply deoxynucleotides). It is
composed of monomeric units namely deoxyadenylate (dAMP), deoxyguanylate
(dGMP), deoxycytidylate (dCMP) and deoxythymidylate (dTMP).
The monomeric deoxynucleotides in DNA are held together by 3,5-phosphodiester
bridges. DNA (or RNA) structure is often represented in a short-hand form. The
horizontal line indicates the carbon chain of sugar with base attached to C1. Near
the middle of the horizontal line is C3 phosphate linkage while at the other
end of the line is C5 phosphate linkage.

DNA DOUBLE HELIX


The double helical structure of DNA was proposed by James Watson and Francis
Crick in 1953 (Nobel Prize, 1962). The elucidation of DNA structure is considered as
a milestone in the era of modern biology. The structure of DNA double helix is
comparable to a twisted ladder. The salient features of Watson-Crick model of DNA
(now known as B-DNA) are
1. The DNA is a right handed double helix. It consists of two polydeoxyribonucleotide
chains (strands) twisted around each other on a common axis.
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2. The two strands are antiparallel, i.e., one strand runs in the 5 prime end to 3
prime end direction while the other in 3 prime end to 5 prime end direction. This
is comparable to two parallel adjacent roads carrying traffic in opposite direction.

3. The width (or diameter) of a double helix is 20 A° (2 nm).


4. Each turn (pitch) of the helix is 34 A° (3.4 nm) with 10 pairs of nucleotides, each
pair placed at a distance of about 3.4 A°.
5. Each strand of DNA has a hydrophilic deoxyribose phosphate backbone (3 prime
end to 5 prime end phosphodiester bonds) on the outside (periphery) of the
molecule while the hydrophobic bases are stacked inside (core).
6. The two polynucleotide chains are not identical but complementary to each other
due to base pairing.
7. The two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds formed by complementary
base pairs. The A-T pair has 2 hydrogen bonds while G-C pair has 3 hydrogen
bonds. The G≡C is stronger by about 50% than A= T.
8. The hydrogen bonds are formed between a purine and a pyrimidine only. If two
purines face each other, they would not fit into the allowable space. And two
pyrimidines would be too far to form hydrogen bonds. The only base arrangement
possible in DNA structure, from spatial considerations is A-T, T-A, G-C and C-G.
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9. The complementary base pairing in DNA helix proves Chargaff’s rule. The content
of adenine equals to that of thymine (A = T) and guanine equals to that of cytosine
(G = C).

10. The genetic information resides on one of the two strands known as template
strand or sense strand. The opposite strand is antisense strand. The double helix
has (wide) major grooves and (narrow) minor grooves along the phosphodiester
backbone. Proteins interact with DNA at these grooves, without disrupting the
base pairs and double helix

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