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Nuclear DNA is a nucleic acid, a polymeric biomolecule or biopolymer, found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells.Its structure is a double helix, with two strands wound around each other, a structure first described by Francis Crick and James D. Watson (1953) using data collected by Rosalind Franklin.
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 ...
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 pitch of a helix is the height of one complete helix turn, measured parallel to the axis of the helix. A double helix consists of two (typically congruent) helices with the same axis, differing by a translation along the axis. [3] A circular helix (i.e. one with constant radius) has constant band curvature and constant torsion. The slope of ...
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 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]
The first reports of a double helix molecular model of B-DNA structure were made by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] That same year, Maurice F. Wilkins, A. Stokes and H.R. Wilson, reported the first X-ray patterns of in vivo B-DNA in partially oriented salmon sperm heads.
The structure of the DNA double helix (type B-DNA). The atoms in the structure are color-coded by element and the detailed structures of two base pairs are shown in the bottom right. DNA exists as a double-stranded structure, with both strands coiled together to form the characteristic double helix.