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After realizing the structural similarity of the A:T and C:G pairs, Watson and Crick soon produced their double helix model of DNA with the hydrogen bonds at the core of the helix providing a way to unzip the two complementary strands for easy replication: the last key requirement for a likely model of the genetic molecule.
The DNA model shown (far right) is a space-filling, or CPK, model of the DNA double helix. Animated molecular models, such as the wire, or skeletal, type shown at the top of this article, allow one to visually explore the three-dimensional (3D) structure of DNA.
The double-helix model of DNA structure was first published in the journal Nature by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, [6] (X,Y,Z coordinates in 1954 [7]) based on the work of Rosalind Franklin and her student Raymond Gosling, who took the crucial X-ray diffraction image of DNA labeled as "Photo 51", [8] [9] and Maurice Wilkins, Alexander Stokes, and Herbert Wilson, [10] and base-pairing ...
Each end of the double helix has an exposed 5' phosphate on one strand and an exposed 3′ hydroxyl group (—OH) on the other. DNA is a long polymer made from repeating units called nucleotides . [ 6 ] [ 7 ] The structure of DNA is dynamic along its length, being capable of coiling into tight loops and other shapes. [ 8 ]
The double helix is an important tertiary structure in nucleic acid molecules which is intimately connected with the molecule's secondary structure. A double helix is formed by regions of many consecutive base pairs. The nucleic acid double helix is a spiral polymer, usually right-handed, containing two nucleotide strands which base pair together.
B-DNA's favored conformations occur at high water concentrations; the hydration of the minor groove appears to favor B-DNA. B-DNA base pairs are nearly perpendicular to the helix axis. The sugar pucker which determines the shape of the a-helix, whether the helix will exist in the A-form or in the B-form, occurs at the C2'-endo. [13]
The double helix is the dominant tertiary structure for biological DNA, and is also a possible structure for RNA. Three DNA conformations are believed to be found in nature, A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA. The "B" form described by James D. Watson and Francis Crick is believed to predominate in cells. [2]
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