BRAINCAKEHydrogen Bonding between DNA Bases
DNA consists of two strands twisted around each other to form a double helix. The sugar-phosphate backbones are on the outside, and the bases point inwards, where each base on one strand pairs with a base on the other.
The two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds between the bases. The bases have N-H groups (H bonded to electronegative N) and lone pairs on N and O atoms, arranged so that only particular pairs line up correctly:
• adenine pairs with thymine (A-T), forming two hydrogen bonds
• guanine pairs with cytosine (G-C), forming three hydrogen bonds
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