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Q.Describe the following-
(क) Punnet square
(ख) Histones OR Write any four salient features of the double helix structure of DNA.

Uttarakhand UbseUttarakhand Board Intermediate (Class 12) 2026Subjective· 4mImportance★★★★★
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Punnett square = grid to predict offspring genotypes; histones = basic proteins forming the octamer/nucleosome around which DNA coils. OR: DNA is an antiparallel right-handed double helix with A=T, G≡C base pairing, ~10 bp/turn, pitch 3.4 nm.

(क) Punnett square: It is a graphical (checker-board) representation devised by Reginald C. Punnett to calculate the probability of all the possible genotypes of offspring in a genetic cross. The possible gametes of the two parents are written along the top and the left side, and the boxes are filled by combining them, showing all genotype/phenotype combinations and their ratios.

(ख) Histones: These are basic (positively charged) proteins rich in the amino acids lysine and arginine, which carry positive charges in their side chains. DNA, being negatively charged, wraps around them. Eight histone molecules organise into a unit called a histone octamer; the negatively charged DNA is wound around this positively charged octamer to form a structure called the nucleosome — the repeating unit of chromatin.

OR — Four salient features of the DNA double helix (Watson–Crick, 1953):

  1. DNA is made of two polynucleotide chains with a sugar–phosphate backbone on the outside and the nitrogen bases projecting inward.
  2. The two chains are antiparallel — one runs 5′→3′5' \rightarrow 3' and the other 3′→5′3' \rightarrow 5'. …

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