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Q.Draw the double helical structure of DNA and label –

(i) Minor groove
(ii) Sugar phosphate backbone OR Draw a neat diagram of nucleosome and label –
(i) DNA
(ii) H1 histone
Manipur CohsemCOHSEM Manipur Higher Secondary Board 2025Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Figure — The catalogued DNA double-helix figure depicts the double-stranded helix with its outer sugar-phosphate backbo
Figure — The catalogued DNA double-helix figure depicts the double-stranded helix with its outer sugar-phosphate backbo

(Cannot literally draw here — both parts described fully in prose.) Part (i): the DNA double helix has antiparallel strands, an outer sugar-phosphate backbone, and alternating major/minor grooves. Part (ii): a nucleosome is DNA wrapped around a histone octamer, sealed at the linker by H1 histone.

As the underlying diagrams cannot be rendered here, both options are described fully in prose, covering every feature the question asks to be labelled.

Part (i) — Double helical structure of DNA, label (i) Minor groove (ii) Sugar phosphate backbone:

DNA (Watson–Crick model) consists of two polynucleotide chains coiled around a common axis in a right-handed helix, running antiparallel (5'→3' and 3'→5').

  • Sugar-phosphate backbone: on the outside of the helix; alternating deoxyribose sugar and phosphate groups linked by phosphodiester bonds form the two "rails" of the ladder-like structure.
  • Nitrogenous base pairs: project inward, pairing specifically — A=T (2 hydrogen bonds), G≡C (3 hydrogen bonds) — forming the "rungs."
  • Dimensions: diameter ≈ 20 Å (2 nm); one full turn = 3.4 nm, containing 10 base pairs (0.34 nm per base pair).
  • Major and minor groove: because the two backbones are asymmetrically placed around the axis, the helix surface shows alternating grooves of unequal width — a wider major groove and a narrower minor groove, running along the length of the helix.

Part (ii) — OR: Nucleosome diagram, label (i) DNA (ii) H1 histone:

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