Video Transcript
Is it possible to bind DNA and RNA
by hybridization? (A) Yes, it is possible since RNA
and DNA can share complementary nucleotides. (B) No, it is impossible since RNA
and DNA cannot share complementary nucleotides.
To answer this question we need to
know what is meant by hybridization and by complementary nucleotides. Let’s start with complementary
nucleotides. Here’s a segment of DNA. Let’s zoom in on this section. Here are two strands of DNA that
together make up the double helix. Both RNA and DNA are polymers of
nucleotides. Nucleotides are made up of three
parts: a phosphate group, a pentose sugar, and a nitrogenous base. In DNA, there’s four nitrogenous
bases: guanine, represented in orange; cytosine, represented in blue; adenine,
represented in green; and thymine, represented in pink.
Cytosine can form three hydrogen
bonds with guanine, as shown here. And adenine and thymine can form
two hydrogen bonds. These bases are said to be
complementary because they can hydrogen-bond with each other. These hydrogen bonds is what keeps
the two strands of DNA together to form the double helix. Hybridization is the process of
combining two complementary molecules of single-stranded DNA or RNA. This can form a double-stranded
hybrid molecule.
RNA has most of the same bases as
DNA except instead of thymine, it uses uracil, represented in red. These bases in RNA can still form
the same hydrogen bonds with their complementary bases in DNA. Uracil forms two hydrogen bonds
with adenine. So in terms of hybridization, the
correct answer is (A). Yes, it is possible since RNA and
DNA can share complementary nucleotides.
