In a double-stranded molecule formed from this DNA template strand (shown above) the number of deoxyribose sugar units you would expect to find is
A - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 10 - 2004 - Paper 1
Question 10
In a double-stranded molecule formed from this DNA template strand (shown above) the number of deoxyribose sugar units you would expect to find is
A. 4
B. 8
C. 16
D... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:In a double-stranded molecule formed from this DNA template strand (shown above) the number of deoxyribose sugar units you would expect to find is
A - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 10 - 2004 - Paper 1
Step 1
Determine the Structure of DNA
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Answer
DNA is composed of two strands that form a double helix, and each strand is made up of nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of a deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base.
Step 2
Identify the Template Strand
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Answer
When given a DNA template strand, it is essential to identify how many nucleotides are present in that strand, as each nucleotide corresponds to one deoxyribose sugar unit.
Step 3
Calculate the Total Number of Deoxyribose Sugars
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Answer
If we assume that the indicated DNA template strand has 'n' nucleotides, then in a double-stranded molecule, the total number of deoxyribose sugars will be equal to the number of nucleotides in one strand, since each will contribute one sugar unit per nucleotide. If we denote this as 'total_sugars', then:
exttotalextsugars=n
For the double-stranded construct, where the strand is complementary, if there are 'n' nucleotides in one strand, there will also be 'n' in the opposite strand.
Step 4
Select the Correct Answer from Choices A-D
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Answer
From the choices provided:
A: 4
B: 8
C: 16
D: 32
Given that each nucleotide corresponds to one deoxyribose sugar and if we suppose there are 16 nucleotides, then the answer for the total number of deoxyribose sugars is therefore:
