Question

Thymine and adenine form a base pair in the DNA molecule. These two bases can form a connection between two strands of DNA via two hydrogen bonds. Which of the following diagrams shows the correct representation of the hydrogen bonding (denoted by dashed lines) between thymine and adenine base pairs? (In each diagram. thymine is shown at the left and adenine is shown at the right. The bases are attached to the backbone portion of the DNA strands.)

Answer 1

Adenine and thymine form a base pair in a DNA molecule and are held together by two hydrogen bonds.

Step-by-step explanation:

Each nucleotide contains a (deoxyribose) sugar bound to a phosphate group on one side, and one of four nitrogenous bases on the other. Two of the bases, cytosine (C) and thymine (T), are single-ringed structures known as pyrimidines. The other two, adenine (A) and guanine (G), are double-ringed structures called purines. These bases form complementary base pairs consisting of one purine and one pyrimidine, with adenine pairing with thymine, and cytosine with guanine. Each base pair is held together by hydrogen bonding. A and T share two hydrogen bonds, C and G share three, and both pairings have a similar shape and structure.