Thymine adenine ratio

Avery s paper prompted other biochemists to rethink their ideas about DNA One of them Erwin Chargaff of Columbia University soon discovered that the distribution of adenine thymine cytosine and guanine differed from species to species but was the same within a species and within all the cells of a species Perhaps DNA did have the capacity to carry genetic information after all Chargaff also found that regardless of the source of the DNA half the bases were purines and the other half were pyrimidines Significantly the ratio of the purine adenine (A) to the pyrimidine thymine (T) was always close to 1 1 Likewise the ratio of the purine guanine (G) to the pyrimidine cyto sine (C) was also close to 1 1 For human DNA the values are... 

The 1 1 ratios of adenine Thymine and guaninexytosine in the DNA isolated from a wide variety of species investigated by Erwin Chargaff between 1948 and 1952. (This relationship is sometimes referred to as Chargaff s rules.)... 

To account for the observed base ratios and uniform thickness of DNA, Watson and Crick postulated that purine and pyrimidine bases project inward toward the axis of the helix and always pair in a specific manner. According to scale models, the dimensions of an adenine-thymine base pair are almost identical to the dimensions of a guanine-cytosine base pair, and the length of each pair is consistent with the core thickness of a DNA strand (Figure 20.7). Thus, if the purine base in one strand is adenine, then its complement in... 

Chemical analysis of DNA from the nuclei of cells showed that although the relative number of molecules of the two purines adenine and guanine varies from species to species, the molecular ratio adenine/ thymine is unity and the ratio guanine/cytosine is unity. For example, the percentages in human sperm are 31% adenine, 19% guanine, 31% thymine, and 19% cytosine. 

If adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine were each analyzed separately in a sample of DNA, what molar ratios of A T and G C would you expect to find ... 

After 1900, genetic research—but not research on nucleic acids—blossomed. Nucleic acids were difficult to work with, hard to purify, and, even though they were present in all cells, did not seem to be very interesting. Early analyses, later shown to be inconect, were interpreted to mean that nucleic acids were polymers consisting of repeats of some sequence of adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C) in a 1 1 1 1 ratio. Nucleic acids didn t seem to offer a rich enough alphabet from which to build a genetic dictionary. Most workers in the field believed proteins to be better-candidates. 

The secondary structure of DNA is shown in Figure B. This "double helix" model was first proposed in 1953 by James Watson and Francis Crick, who used the x-ray crystallographic data of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. Beyond that, they were intrigued by the results of analyses that showed that in DNA the ratio of adenine to thymine molecules is almost exactly 1 1, as is the ratio of cytosine to guanine ... 

C13-0102. hi the 1950s, Edwin Chargaff of Columbia University studied the composition of DNA from a variety of plants and animals. He found that the relative amounts of different bases changed from one species to another. However, in every species studied, the molar ratios of guanine to cytosine and of adenine to thymine were found to be very close to 1.0. Explain Chargaff s observations in terms of the Watson-Crick model of DNA structure. 

The first evidence of the special structure of DNA was the observation that the amounts of adenine and thymine are almost equal in every type of DNA. The same applies to guanine and cytosine. The model of DNA structure formulated in 1953 explains these constant base ratios intact DNA consists of two polydeoxynucleotide molecules ( strands ). Each base in one strand is linked to a complementary base in the other strand by H-bonds. Adenine is complementary to thymine, and guanine is complementary to cytosine. One purine base and one pyrimidine base are thus involved in each base pair. 

A complete understanding of the biochemical functions of DNA requires a clear picture of its structural and physical characteristics. DNA has significant absorption in the UV range because of the presence of the aromatic bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. This provides a useful probe into DNA structure because structural changes such as helix unwinding affect the extent of absorption. In addition, absorption measurements are used as an indication of DNA purity. The major absorption band for purified DNA peaks at about 260 nm. Protein material, the primary contaminant in DNA, has a peak absorption at 280 nm. The ratio A26(j/A2m is often used as a relative measure of the nucleic acid/protein content of a DNA sample. The typical A260/Am for isolated DNA is about 1.8. A smaller ratio indicates increased contamination by protein. 

In an early work on the compositions of DNA, Chargaff (1955) noted that the ratios of adenine to thymine and of guanine to cytosine are very close to unity in a very large number of DNA samples. This observation has been used to support the helical structure of DNA proposed by Watson and Crick (1953). From the base compositions of DNA and RNA given in the following tables, deduce the statistical significance for the statement that the base ratios (A/T(U) and G/C are unity for DNA but vary for RNA (Note Calculate the ratios first and then perform statistical analysis on the ratios). 

Erwin Chargaff found that the ratios of adenine to thymine and of guanine to cytosine were always 1 1, suggesting that these bases form pairs. The fact that the ratios are 1 1 is referred to as Chargaff s rules. 

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