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Double-stranded RNA forms an A-type helical structure, unlike the common B-type conformation taken by double-stranded DNA molecules. The secondary structure of RNA consists of a single polynucleotide. Base pairing in RNA occurs when RNA folds between complementarity regions. Both single- and double-stranded regions are often found in RNA molecules.
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 ...
Here, the single-stranded DNA curls around in a long circle stabilized by telomere-binding proteins. [68] At the very end of the T-loop, the single-stranded telomere DNA is held onto a region of double-stranded DNA by the telomere strand disrupting the double-helical DNA and base pairing to one of the two strands.
Double-stranded nucleic acids are made up of complementary sequences, in which extensive Watson-Crick base pairing results in a highly repeated and quite uniform nucleic acid double-helical three-dimensional structure. [24] In contrast, single-stranded RNA and DNA molecules are not constrained to a regular double helix, and can adopt highly ...
For DNA, with its double helix, there are two possible directions for the notated sequence; of these two, the sense strand is used. Because nucleic acids are normally linear (unbranched) polymers , specifying the sequence is equivalent to defining the covalent structure of the entire molecule.
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]
A single-stranded break (nick) in DNA can be formed by the hydrolysis and subsequent removal of a phosphate group within the helical backbone. This leads to a different DNA conformation, where a hydrogen bond forms in place of the missing piece of the DNA backbone in order to preserve the structure. [3]
At various steps of these recombination processes, heteroduplex DNA (double-stranded DNA consisting of single strands from each of the two homologous chromosomes which may or may not be perfectly complementary) is formed. During meiosis non-crossover recombinants occur frequently and these appear to arise mainly by the SDSA pathway.