Molecule Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples - v1.26, by Herong Yang
DNA Primary Structure - Double Helix
This section provides a quick introduction of the primary structure of a DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid), which is a double helix formed by the backbones of two complementary DNA sequences paired together.
What Is the primary structure of a DNA? - Like RNA, the primary structure of a DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is also the helix conformation formed by the backbone (the chain of sugar-phosphate pairs) of its nucleotide residue sequence.
However, in most situations, two complementary DNA sequences are always paired together to form the double helix conformation. See the diagram below (source: chandlerphysicaltherapy.net):
In a DNA double helix, all nucleobases in one DNA sequence are paired one-by-one with nucleobases of the other DNA sequence. See next section for details on nucleobase pairs.
Table of Contents
Molecule Names and Identifications
►Nucleobase, Nucleoside, Nucleotide, DNA and RNA
What Is RNA (Ribonucleic Acid)
What Is DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)
►DNA Primary Structure - Double Helix
What Is DNA/RNA Base and Sequence Pair
ChEMBL Database - European Molecular Biology Laboratory
PubChem Database - National Library of Medicine
INSDC (International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration)
HGNC (HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee)