Thymine makes up 28% of the nucleotides in a sample of dna from an organism. approximately what percentage of the nucleotides in this sample will be guanine?

Respuesta :

In DNA, the bases present undergo complementary pairing. The base pairs are as follows:
Adenine - Thymine
Cytosine - Guanine

So if the DNA sample has 28% Thymine, the amount of Adenine will be equal which will be 28%.

The remaining bases will occupy:
100 - 28 * 2 = 44%
Because Cytosine and Guanine will be in equal quantities, 

Guanine = 44/2 = 22%

22% nucleotides in the given sample is guanine.

Further Explanation:

The deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is composed of a long stretch of nucleotides comprising of nitrogenous bases, sugar, and phosphate. The nitrogenous bases present are cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thymine. The structure of DNA consist of two strands which are bind to each other by hydrogen bonds. Each nucleotide in one strand base pairs with the complementary nucleotide in the other strand resulting in a helical structure.

The nitrogenous bases are categorized as pyrimidines (cytosine, thymine) and purines (guanine, adenine). The adenine from one strand forms bond with the thymine of the other strand while cytosine binds with guanine. Due to the specific base pairing the percentage of each nucleotide can be determined if the percentage of any one of the nucleotides in the DNA is known.

The percentage of nucleotides in the DNA sample is estimated according to Chargaff’s rule which states that the base pair in the double-strand must be present in the ration of 1:1. This ratio implies that the amount of guanine or adenine must be equal to the amount of cytosine or thymine, respectively.

It is represent as A% = T% or C% = G%.

Here, the percentage of thymine in the DNA sample is given as 28%. Therefore, adenine (A) is also 28% as it pairs with thymine (T). As a result, the total A-T content is 56% (A+T).  

This leaves 44% of the G-C content in the DNA sample. Therefore, the individual percentage of both cytosine and guanine will be 22%.

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Answer Details:

Grade: Senior School

Subject: Biology

Chapter: DNA Structure and Function

Keywords:

DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, pyrimidine, purine, adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, hydrogen bonds, Chargaff’s rule, double-strand, nucleotides, phosphate group, sugar.