General Chemistry of DNA and building blocks.

• Sugars
• Bases
• Specific structure of a deoxyribonucleotide dAMP and dGMP
• Specific structure of dCTP and dTTP
• Section of Single Strand of DNA
• Tides and Sides

The Double Helix is the Resulting Model.

Linus Pauling proposes a triple helical structure

Watson and Crick base pairing explains Chargaff's Rule.

Watson and Crick Pairing within duplex DNA

A purine must pair with a pyrimidine or vice versa

The double helix explains the unit cell dimensions

The DNA is a helix

Strands are anti-parallel

It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material. Watson, JD and FHC Crick. 1953. Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature 171:737 - 38.

Now there are three forms of DNA

Text iGenetics by Peter J. Russell

This web site is provided for instruction in Botany and Zoology 342

by Kenneth G. Wilson,
Professor of Botany
Miami University
wilsonkg@muohio.edu