Question

A template strand of DNA contains nucleotides in the following proportions: 14% adenine

(A), 33% thymine (T), 21% cytosine (C), and 32% guanine (G). What can you expect
the proportions of the nucleotides to be in the newly formed complementary strand?

Answer 1

The proportions of nucleotides in the newly formed complimentary strand will be:

14% Thymine (T), 33% Adenine (A), 21% Guanine (G), 32% Cytosine (C).

Step-by-step explanation:

In a double stranded DNA, the nucleotides of one strand binds with nucleotides of another strand through hydrogen bonds.

Adenine binds with thymine by two hydrogen bonds (A=T) and guanine binds with cytosine by three hydrogen bonds (G≡C).

So, the complimentary strand must have

• thymine equal to the amount of adenine in template strand.
• adenine equal to the amount of thymine in template strand.
• guanine equal to the amount of cytosine in template strand.
• cytosine equal to the amount of guanine in template strand.