Question

If a DNA has 20% adenine then what will be the percentage of guanine , show it with necessary calculations. Options are ---

A. 20%

B. 30%

C. 40%

D. 50%

Answer 1

According to Chargaff’s rule, the DNA molecule should have an equal ratio of pyrimidine (cytosine and thymine) and purine (adenine and guanine). It means that the number of adenine molecules is equal to thymine molecules and the number of guanine molecules is equal to cytosine molecules.

% A = % T and % G = % C

If dsDNA has 20% of adenine, then according to the law, it would have 20% of thymine.

Thus, percentage of A+ T content = 40%

The remaining 60% represents both G + C molecule. Since cytosine and guanine are always present in equal numbers, the percentage of guanine molecule is 30%.