KEY TERMS

nucleotide

heterocyclic compound

adenine (A)

guanine (G)

cytosine (C)

thymine (T)

uracil (U)

deoxyribonucleotide

ribonucleotide

phosphodiester bond

oligonucleotide

polynucleotide

base pairing

Chargaff’s rules

antiparallel

B-form DNA (B-DNA)

A-form DNA (A-DNA)

Z-form DNA (Z-DNA)

palindrome

hairpin

RNA secondary structure

denaturation

melting

annealing

hypochromic effect

hyperchromic effect

melting point (Tm)

hybrid duplex

probe

gel electrophoresis

Southern blotting

Northern blotting