Question

Why does the DNA double helix have a uniform diameter? a. Deoxyribose sugars bind with ribose sugars. b. Nucleotides bind with nucleoside triphosphates. c. C nucleotides pair with A nucleotides. d. Nucleotides bind with nucleosides. e. Purines pair with pyrimidines.

Answer 1

Answer:

e. Purines pair with pyrimidines

Explanation:

Diameter of DNA double helix is uniform through out the structure and it is 2 nm. This uniformity is due to the base pairing between a purine and a pyramidine. Purine base is made of two rings and pyramidine base has a single ring. All the bases are either derived from purine or from pyramidine structure and a purine always pairs with pyramidine. Two purines or two pyramidines can not pair with each other. So at any point along the DNA molecule, the sugar phosphate backbones always have three ring structure between them, hence the uniform diameter.