DNA MADE ONLY OF PYRIMIDINE BASES – WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE?
Purely hypothetical question: Imagine you have a very long DNA chain consisting only of pyrimidine base pairs (TC). How would that affect the structure? Of course, I have mismatches, but would the diameter of the helix then become larger or smaller? What would it look like? Would my DNA then be very narrow because the pyrimidine bases don't have another ring attached (like with guanine or adenine, for example)?
I realize it won't work because there would be mismatches.
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Hey!
If a DNA chain would consist only of pyrimidine base pairs (thymine cytosine), you would indeed have a problem with mismatches. In the natural DNA base pairing, thymin always forms a bond with adenine, while cytosine enters into a bond with guanine. However, if you only use pyrimidine base pairs, you would not have any complementary partners for the base pairing.
Suppose you could leave the mismatch problems aside and have a long DNA chain with only thyme-cytosine base pairs, this would affect the structure. In the double helix of the DNA, the base pairs are wound around a common axis, forming a spiral structure. The width of the helix is determined mainly by the width of the base pairs.
Compared to the purine base pairs (adena guanine), which have an additional ring in their structure, the pyrimidine base pairs are narrower. The purine base pairs are larger and better fill the space between the sugar molecules. Consequently, a DNA chain consisting exclusively of pyrimidine base pairs would tend to be narrower than a DNA chain with mixed base pairs.
It would be nice to forget the star 🙂
Greetings!
hey perfect thanks for the answer – how can I forgive the star? I am new:)
After 24 h, there’s “sign as the most helpful answer”, you press it and confirm:)