https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.09703
The twisted shape of two complementary strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Notes:
- The complementary chains are held together by hydrogen bonds between pairs of the complementary nucleobases. The helical conformation is promoted by several relatively weak interactions, including hydrophobic (stacking) ones between the bases.
- The double helix is the most frequent DNA structure formed by two complementary DNA strands. It can also be formed by two complementary strands of ribonucleic acid (RNA), one DNA and one RNA strand, as well of any of these with synthetic nucleic acids analogues, such as locked nucleic acid, LNA, or peptide nucleic acid, PNA.