The two DNA strands are held against each other by hydrogen bonds. Determine the number of double and triple hydrogen
September 29, 2020 | Education
| The two DNA strands are held against each other by hydrogen bonds. Determine the number of double and triple hydrogen bonds in this DNA chain, as well as its length, if it is known that nucleotides with adenine (A) – 12, with guanine (G) – 20 in both chains (the distance between nucleotides in DNA is 0.34 nm)
1) adenine (A) is complementary to thymine (T), and two hydrogen bonds are formed between them, therefore, there are 12 double hydrogen bonds;
2) guanine (G) is complementary to cytosine (C), and three hydrogen bonds are formed between them, therefore, there are 20 triple hydrogen bonds;
3) total nucleotides in the chain: 12 (A) + 12 (T) + 20 (G) + 20 (C) = 64; length of the DNA molecule section: 64: 2 x 0.34 = 10.88 nm.
