What is Complementarity (molecular biology)?
[[Image:Complementarity (DNA).png|thumb|right|250px|On the left is [[nucleotide]]s that forms the [[DNA]] and their complementary base pair. Between A and T there are 2 hydrogen bounds, between C and G, there are 3 hydrogen bonds. On the right is a DNA sequence]] In [[molecular biology]], '''complementarity''' is a [[wikt:property|property]] (something that it can do) of [[nucleic acid]]s such as [[DNA]] and [[RNA]]. Each [[nucleotide]] has a [[nitrogenous base]], and each nitrogenous base can pair up with the nitrogenous base from another different nucleotide. One can say that the nitrogenous base is complementary to the other in that the [[base pair]]s between them are non-[[covalent bond|covalently]] bonded by [[hydrogen bond]]s. Since there is only one complementary base for any of the bases found in DNA and in RNA, [[enzyme]]s can make a complementary strand from any single strand. This is needed for [[DNA replication]]. The bases which are complementary are * [[Adenine|A]] with [[Thymine|T]] * [[Cytosine|C]] with [[Guanine|G]] For example, the complementary strand of the DNA sequence <pre>A G T C A T G</pre> is <pre>T C A G T A C</pre> ==Related pages== * [[Base pair]] [[Category:Molecular biology]]