In: Biology
Make a line drawing of DNA in which you show the major and minor groove. Explain how base stacking and hydrogen bonding contribute to the double helix.
Ans. In base pairing and stacking in DNA, many forces are
involved and play roles. Between the bases in the complementary
strands of DNA there are hydrogen bonds; 3 hydrogen bonds between G
and C, 2 hydrogen bonds between A and T. This hydrogen bonding
contributes to the stability of structure. There is attraction
between base pairs which are stacked one above the other through
Van der waals forces of the range of 3 kJ/mole. Hydrophobic forces
stack the bases one above the other. Besides these factors, the
process of stacking is also contributed by the structural
confirmation of sugar-phosphate backbone present in the DNA
molecule. All these contribute to the three dimensional maintenance
of structure and stability of DNA double helix.