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Complementarity (molecular biology)
 
 
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In molecular biology
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
, complementarity is a property of double-stranded nucleic acid
Nucleic acid

A nucleic acid is a macromolecule composed of chains of monomeric nucleotides. In biochemistry these molecules carry genetic information or form structures within Cell ....
s such as DNA
DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetics instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses....
 and RNA
RNA

Ribonucleic acid is a type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nucleobase, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate....
 as well as DNA:RNA duplexes. Each strand is complementary to the other in that the base pair
Base pair

In molecular biology, two nucleotides on opposite complementarity DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds are called a base pair ....
s between them are non-covalently
Covalent bond

A covalent bond is a form of chemical bonding that is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms, or between atoms and other covalent bonds....
 connected via two or three hydrogen bond
Hydrogen bond

A hydrogen bond is the attractive force between one electronegative atom and a hydrogen covalently bonded to another electronegative atom. It results from a dipole-dipole force with a hydrogen atom bonded to nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine ....
s.

Since there is only one complementary base for any of the bases found in DNA and in RNA, one can reconstruct a complementary strand for any single strand.






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Complementarity (dna)
In molecular biology
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
, complementarity is a property of double-stranded nucleic acid
Nucleic acid

A nucleic acid is a macromolecule composed of chains of monomeric nucleotides. In biochemistry these molecules carry genetic information or form structures within Cell ....
s such as DNA
DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetics instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses....
 and RNA
RNA

Ribonucleic acid is a type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nucleobase, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate....
 as well as DNA:RNA duplexes. Each strand is complementary to the other in that the base pair
Base pair

In molecular biology, two nucleotides on opposite complementarity DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds are called a base pair ....
s between them are non-covalently
Covalent bond

A covalent bond is a form of chemical bonding that is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms, or between atoms and other covalent bonds....
 connected via two or three hydrogen bond
Hydrogen bond

A hydrogen bond is the attractive force between one electronegative atom and a hydrogen covalently bonded to another electronegative atom. It results from a dipole-dipole force with a hydrogen atom bonded to nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine ....
s.

Since there is only one complementary base for any of the bases found in DNA and in RNA, one can reconstruct a complementary strand for any single strand. This is essential for DNA replication
DNA replication

DNA replication, the basis for heredity, is a fundamental process occurring in all living organisms to copy their DNA. This process is "semiconservative replication" in that each strand of the original double-stranded DNA molecule serves as template for the reproduction of the complementary strand....
.

For example, the complementary strand of the DNA sequence A G T C A T G is T C A G T A C

tRNAs exhibit wobble, in which the third base of their anticodon does not follow the strict complementarity rules.

See also

  • Base pair
    Base pair

    In molecular biology, two nucleotides on opposite complementarity DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds are called a base pair ....