Any two nucleic acid fragments will spontaneously hybridize if they encounter each other as long as they are ______and ______.
A)complementary; antiparallel
B)primed; replicated
C)DNA; RNA
D)transcribed; translated
E)identical; compatible

Question

Any two nucleic acid fragments will spontaneously hybridize if they encounter each other as long as they are  ______and ______.
A)complementary; antiparallel
B)primed; replicated
C)DNA; RNA
D)transcribed; translated
E)identical; compatible

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Nucleic acid fragments will only hybridize if they are complementary to each other, meaning they have base-pairing interactions (A-T, G-C for DNA or A-U, G-C for RNA). Additionally, they must be antiparallel, meaning one strand runs in the 5' to 3' direction while the other runs in the 3' to 5' direction, in order for the strands to bind together in a stable manner. The other choices are not relevant to the process of nucleic acid hybridization.

Any Two Nucleic Acid Fragments Will Spontaneously Hybridize If They