The concept of complementarity is. The meaning of the word “complementarity” Explanatory translation dictionary
Complementarity is understood as such a correspondence between biopolymer molecules that ensures the formation of a hydrogen bond between them. In DNA, this correspondence is ensured by the formation of pair bonds (adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine). This is necessary for the storage and translation of all human genetic information, as well as such fundamental processes as replication, transcription during protein synthesis and the renewal of this acid due to damage to its chain.
Description of complementarity
The formation of a double chain of deoxyribonucleic acid (RNA) is possible when one purine base (adenine, guanine) is linked to one another by one of the pyrimidine bases (thymine, cytosine.). This relationship is known as the rule of complementarity.
This rule means that two strands carry the same genetic information, although they are chemically different. It turns out that one chain of deoxyribonucleic acid sets another.
The complementarity of nucleotides provides the most important function of the nucleic acid compound - determining protein synthesis. All information about the composition of a protein is encoded by these four bases - adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine. A nucleotide sequence is formed, which is accurately transmitted from one generation to the next. According to this principle, the formation of an identical molecule occurs - replication. In turn, nucleotides are carriers of all information, because each chain serves as a kind of matrix for obtaining a new one.
History of the discovery of RNA
This principle was discovered by Erwin Chargaff in 1950. But long before that, RNA was discovered in 1868, and six years before the discovery of the principle of complementarity, it was proven that this particular acid is the carrier of genetic information.
Chargaff showed that, due to the complementarity of nucleotides, the structures of DNA and RNA molecules chemically and geometrically correspond to each other. This was a huge breakthrough in the study of heredity, deciphering deoxyribonucleic acid.
Operating principle
The basis of this phenomenon can be described by Chargaff's rule, which states:
The amount of purine bases (adenine and guanine) is equal to the content of pyrimidine bases (thymine and cytosine);
The amount of adenine is equal to the content of thymine;
The guanine content is equal to cytosine, respectively.
A little later, A. Belozersky established that the quantitative ratio of purine and pyrimidine bases is constant for each individual species of organism. In other words, this ratio is a species characteristic of the organism.
Why do we need the principle of complementarity?
Complementarity is essential in the formation of proteins. Without it, the synthesis of a daughter acid molecule is impossible, 
which would be identical to the mother. Without it, it was impossible to imagine cell division, because during the division of the mother cell, each new cell receives one copy of DNA, which is always the same.
Complementarity ensures the transmission of genetic information from generation to generation. This also allows us to understand the mechanism of mutation formation, as well as ways to prevent them.
The study of complementarity gave grounds to assert that the replication of deoxyribonucleic acid is the most important event for cell division and protein synthesis.
The use of complementarity in genetics and medicine
This phenomenon is today very widely used for the introduction of DNA technologies into practical medicine. It made it possible to study in more detail the mechanism of development of hereditary diseases and analyze the basis of their pathogenesis. Here are some areas of medicine and genetics where this principle is successfully applied:
Thanks to modern methods of molecular medicine, vaccines have been created to combat some forms of hepatitis, human insulin has been created;
It has become possible to restore normal blood clotting in patients with hemophilia;
Full genes and their fragments can be introduced into the human body and thus correct some metabolic disorders;
Therapy for some forms of immunodeficiency in children has become possible;
Effective methods of treating patients with phenylketonuria, cystic fibrosis, hypercholesterolemia and other severe hereditary diseases are being developed;
Research is being conducted on human genes.
Prospects for research development
At the present stage of development of medicine and genetics, complementarity is widely used in many studies. Thus, it allows one to establish and introduce into medical practice such fundamental principles of the functioning of living organisms as self-regulation, the relationship of functional systems, the organization of functions, etc. Complementarity allows the use of treatment methods that would be directed, as it were, “inside” the body, using its compensatory capabilities.
The study of nucleotides provides great opportunities to introduce the latest achievements of genetic engineering into basic treatment methods in order to overcome severe hereditary diseases and provide patients with a full life.
Interesting facts about complementarity
During the research, the following interesting facts were revealed: 
The human genome contains over three billion “letters” - nucleotides;
Only one percent of them code for proteins;
In total, humans have over twenty thousand genes;
The human genome is stored in every(!) cell;
About four-fifths of the entire genome is “rewritten” into RNA - ribonucleic acid;
DNA contains a huge number of auxiliary sections that control the entire complex process of protein coding and synthesis.
However, the possibilities of complementarity for studying our genome have not been fully explored, so we are faced with new discoveries related to genetics.
COMPLEMENTARY in chemistry, spatial correspondence of the structures of two molecules (different or identical), thanks to which it is possible to form hydrogen bonds between them and carry out intermolecular molecules. interactions. In a broad sense, also the mutual correspondence of opposite electrostatics. charges on molecules and energies of conjugated reactions. In the latter case, parallel processes are considered, connected to each other in such a way that the stage accompanied by the release of energy is associated with a stage that requires energy consumption to implement the cut. max. widespread, especially in biochemistry and bioorg. chemistry, the concept of structural K. Thanks to this type of K., which is carried out according to the “key-lock” principle, antigen-antibody, enzyme-substrate complexes, the quaternary structure of proteins, the secondary and tertiary structure of nucleic acids are formed. In the latter case, K. manifests itself especially clearly. K. of adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine (in the narrow sense, the term “K.” is sometimes used precisely for this case) was discovered by J. Watson and F. Crick in 1953 and formed the basis for their model of the DNA double helix. This type of nitrogen is realized due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between proton-donor and proton-acceptor groups in nitrogenous bases (see figure). At
Hydrogen bonds (indicated by dots) between complementary bases found in DNA and RNA; R is a phosphorylated pentose residue. this forms specific ones. pairs of complementary bases that are almost identical in size. Therefore, the double helix has a very homogeneous regular structure, little dependent on the specific sequence of bases - a property that is very important for ensuring the universality of the mechanisms of replication (self-reproduction of DNA or RNA), transcription (RNA synthesis on a DNA template) and translation (protein synthesis on RNA). matrix). In each of these so-called. matrix processes K. plays a decisive role. For example, during translation, the codon between the three bases of the messenger RNA (the so-called codon, see below) is important. Genetic code) and three bases of transfer RNA (supply amino acids during translation). K. also determines the secondary structure of nucleic acids. Single-stranded RNA, thanks to the affinity of bases, coils on itself and forms relatively short double-stranded regions (“hairpins” and “loops”) connected by single-stranded regions. K. in individual DNA base pairs can be disrupted due to the appearance of deviations in their structure, which can arise spontaneously or as a result of the action of various factors. factors (chemical and physical). The consequence of these changes may be. mutations. K. is the basis of plural. biological phenomena specificity associated with "recognition" on the pier. level, -enzymatic catalysis, biol self-assembly. structures, high accuracy of genetic transmission. information, etc. Lit.: Metzler D., Biochemistry, trans. from English, vol. 2, M.. 1980, p. 42 45; Stent G., Kalindar R., Molecular Genetics, trans. from English. M., 1981, p. 172 74. V. I. Ivanov.
Chemical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ed. I. L. Knunyants. 1988 .
Synonyms:- COMPLEMENT
- COMPOSITES
See what “COMPLEMENTARY” is in other dictionaries:
complementarity- correspondence, complementarity, mutual correspondence Dictionary of Russian synonyms. complementarity noun, number of synonyms: 3 complementarity (2) ... Synonym dictionary
COMPLEMENTARY- in biochemistry, the mutual correspondence in the chemical structure of two macromolecules, ensuring their interaction, the pairing of two strands of DNA, the connection of an enzyme with a substrate, an antigen with an antibody. Complementary structures fit together like a key... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
COMPLEMENTARY- spatial complementarity (mutual correspondence) of the surfaces of interacting molecules or their parts, leading, as a rule, to the formation of secondary (van der Waals, hydrogen, ionic) bonds between them. Uniqueness and... Biological encyclopedic dictionary
Complementarity- a phenomenon in which two molecules have additional (mirror) sections in structure and charges. As a result of K. 2, molecules can approach each other at such a distance that as a result of the action of electrostatic and van der... ... Dictionary of microbiology
complementarity- - the phenomenon of highly selective binding of biomolecules and biostructures due to specific and universal interactions, as well as high stereochemical affinity... A brief dictionary of biochemical terms
Complementarity- * complementarity * complementarity the property of nucleotides to form paired complexes during the interaction of nucleic acid chains; in accordance with the rules of base complementarity, during the formation of such complexes, a double... ... Genetics. encyclopedic Dictionary
Complementarity- The request for “complementarity” is redirected here. A separate article is needed on this topic. Complementarity: Complementarity in chemistry, molecular biology and genetics is the mutual correspondence of biopolymer molecules or their fragments, ... ... Wikipedia
complementarity- (biochemical), mutual correspondence in the chemical structure of two macromolecules, ensuring their interaction, pairing of two strands of DNA, connection of an enzyme with a substrate, an antigen with an antibody. Complementary structures fit together like... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Complementarity- (from Latin complementum addition) spatial complementarity of molecules or their parts, leading to the formation of hydrogen bonds. Complementarity plays a special role in DNA nucleic acid molecules, where two polynucleotide chains in... ... The beginnings of modern natural science
Complementarity- (from Latin completus complete) correspondence, composing with something else a new object that has new properties (for example, some circuits require two transistors with a certain way matched parameters, a complementary pair): ... ... Lem's World - Dictionary and Guide
Complementarity- (complementarity, complementarity) an immanent concept that has meaning within the boundaries of a single sociocultural space (civilization). “Opposites do not exclude, but complement each other” (Niels Bohr). Complementarity is a special case... Geoeconomic dictionary-reference book
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- Genesis of meaning in the philosophy of Hinduism, Zilberman David Benyaminovich. The main direction of research in this work is the development of a new method of philosophizing, which the author calls modal methodologization, analysis of the problem of cultural...
In chemistry, molecular biology and genetics - the mutual correspondence of biopolymer molecules or their fragments, ensuring the formation of bonds between spatially complementary (complementary) fragments of molecules or their structural fragments due to supramolecular interactions.
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See what “Complementarity” is in other dictionaries:
complementarity- correspondence, complementarity, mutual correspondence Dictionary of Russian synonyms. complementarity noun, number of synonyms: 3 complementarity (2) ... Synonym dictionary
COMPLEMENTARY- in biochemistry, the mutual correspondence in the chemical structure of two macromolecules, ensuring their interaction, the pairing of two strands of DNA, the connection of an enzyme with a substrate, an antigen with an antibody. Complementary structures fit together like a key... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
COMPLEMENTARY- spatial complementarity (mutual correspondence) of the surfaces of interacting molecules or their parts, leading, as a rule, to the formation of secondary (van der Waals, hydrogen, ionic) bonds between them. Uniqueness and... Biological encyclopedic dictionary
Complementarity- a phenomenon in which two molecules have additional (mirror) sections in structure and charges. As a result of K. 2, molecules can approach each other at such a distance that as a result of the action of electrostatic and van der... ... Dictionary of microbiology
complementarity- - the phenomenon of highly selective binding of biomolecules and biostructures due to specific and universal interactions, as well as high stereochemical affinity... A brief dictionary of biochemical terms
Complementarity- * complementarity * complementarity the property of nucleotides to form paired complexes during the interaction of nucleic acid chains; in accordance with the rules of base complementarity, during the formation of such complexes, a double... ... Genetics. encyclopedic Dictionary
complementarity- (biochemical), mutual correspondence in the chemical structure of two macromolecules, ensuring their interaction, pairing of two strands of DNA, connection of an enzyme with a substrate, an antigen with an antibody. Complementary structures fit together like... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Complementarity- (from Latin complementum addition) spatial complementarity of molecules or their parts, leading to the formation of hydrogen bonds. Complementarity plays a special role in DNA nucleic acid molecules, where two polynucleotide chains in... ... The beginnings of modern natural science
Complementarity- (from Latin completus complete) correspondence, composing with something else a new object that has new properties (for example, some circuits require two transistors with a certain way matched parameters, a complementary pair): ... ... Lem's World - Dictionary and Guide
Complementarity- (complementarity, complementarity) an immanent concept that has meaning within the boundaries of a single sociocultural space (civilization). “Opposites do not exclude, but complement each other” (Niels Bohr). Complementarity is a special case... Geoeconomic dictionary-reference book
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What is "complementarity"? How to spell this word correctly. Concept and interpretation.
complementarity in chemistry, the spatial correspondence of the structures of two molecules (different or identical), thanks to which the formation of hydrogen bonds between them and the implementation of intermolecular molecules is possible. interactions. In a broad sense, also the mutual correspondence of opposite electrostatics. charges on molecules and energies of conjugated reactions. In the latter case, parallel processes are considered, connected to each other in such a way that the stage accompanied by the release of energy is associated with a stage that requires energy consumption to implement the cut. max. widespread, especially in biochemistry and bioorg. chemistry, the concept of structural K. Thanks to this type of K., which is carried out according to the “key-lock” principle, antigen-antibody, enzyme-substrate complexes, the quaternary structure of proteins, the secondary and tertiary structure of nucleic acids are formed. In the latter case, K. manifests itself especially clearly. K. of adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine (in the narrow sense, the term “K.” is sometimes used precisely for this case) was discovered by J. Watson and F. Crick in 1953 and formed the basis for their model of the DNA double helix. This type of nitrogen is realized due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between proton-donor and proton-acceptor groups in nitrogenous bases (see figure). When Hydrogen bonds (indicated by dots) between complementary bases included in DNA and RNA; R is a phosphorylated pentose residue. this forms specific ones. pairs of complementary bases that are almost identical in size. Therefore, the double helix has a very homogeneous regular structure, little dependent on the specific sequence of bases - a property that is very important for ensuring the universality of the mechanisms of replication (self-reproduction of DNA or RNA), transcription (RNA synthesis on a DNA template) and translation (protein synthesis on RNA). matrix). In each of these so-called. matrix processes K. plays a decisive role. For example, during translation, the coordination between the three bases of messenger RNA (the so-called codon, see Genetic Code) and the three bases of transfer RNA (amino acids are supplied during translation) is important. K. also determines the secondary structure of nucleic acids. Single-stranded RNA, thanks to the affinity of bases, coils on itself and forms relatively short double-stranded regions (“hairpins” and “loops”) connected by single-stranded regions. K. in individual DNA base pairs can be disrupted due to the appearance of deviations in their structure, which can arise spontaneously or as a result of the action of various factors. factors (chemical and physical). The consequence of these changes may be. mutations. K. is the basis of plural. biological phenomena specificity associated with "recognition" on the pier. level, -enzymatic catalysis, biol self-assembly. structures, high accuracy of genetic transmission. information, etc. Lit.: Metzler D., Biochemistry, trans. from English, vol. 2, M.. 1980, p. 42 45; Stent G., Kalindar R., Molecular Genetics, trans. from English. M., 1981, p. 172 74. V. I. Ivanov.
complementarity- in molecular biology, mutual correspondence that ensures the connection of complementary ones... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
complementarity- and. 1. Mutual correspondence, the connection of structures that complement each other, determined by their chemical properties...
Many people have heard the concept of complementarity. This is usually something vague and not entirely clear, especially for those who have left school a long time ago and whose work is not related to biology or chemistry. In fact, the essence of the concept of complementarity is quite simple, and knowing what it is is useful for every educated person.
General information
The term has different meanings in different areas of biology. In genetics, complementarity is the property of several non-allelic, often dominant genes, to complement each other to manifest a certain new trait. An example of complementarity in genetics is the interaction of two dominant genes responsible for normal hearing (let's call them genes A and B). Only if both of these genes are present does a person have normal hearing. If any of them is homozygous for a recessive genotype, the person will be completely deaf.
But from school, another definition of the concept is better known. Many people remember that complementarity is something related to the structure of DNA. To give a complete definition, it is worth better studying the structure of the macromolecules for which this term was introduced.
Complementarity in macromolecules
As is known, in the nucleus of any cell of a living organism there is a compacted (tightly folded) DNA molecule, which stores all the genetic information about the further development of the organism. The DNA molecule forms chromosomes, of which a person normally has 46. DNA is a complex polymer molecule consisting of monomers - nucleotides. Each nucleotide is represented by a phosphoric acid residue, the sugar ribose or deoxyribose, and one of four nitrogenous bases - adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C).
As you know, the DNA molecule is double-stranded. Bonds between chains can only form between complementary nitrogenous bases. The complementarity rule for nitrogenous bases is as follows:
A-T (adenine is complementary to thymine).
G-C (guanine is complementary to cytosine).
Based on these rules, we can conclude that complementarity is the principle of matching one nitrogenous base in the structure of DNA or RNA to another, with which these bases form a hydrogen bond.
The first step towards identifying the complementarity of nitrogenous bases was made long before Watson and Crick, who received the Nobel Prize for deciphering the structure of DNA, by the American biologist Edwin Chargaff. As a result of his research, he discovered that the amount of adenine in the DNA chain coincides with the amount of thymine, and guanine with the amount of cytosine. He also established that the total number of pyramidins (T+C) is equal to the number of purines (A+G). The rule of complementarity itself was discovered by Watson and Crick when deciphering the structure of DNA.
The RNA molecule also has its own principle of complementarity. This macromolecule is usually single-stranded, but there are exceptions depending on the type of RNA and its functions.
RNA molecules contain adenine, guanine, cytosine and uracil. The principle of complementarity for double-stranded RNA looks like this:
As with DNA, only if complementary nitrogenous bases are opposite each other will a double strand be formed.
The nature of complementarity
Nitrogen bases are usually divided into purines and pyrimidines. Purines, as already mentioned, include adenine and guanine, and pyrimidines include cytosine, uracil and thymine. The last three are pyrimidine derivatives, adenine and guanine are purine derivatives, respectively. Purines form hydrogen bonds only with pyrimidines. The resulting bonds are not rigid; they are easily destroyed and restored. The energy required for breaking depends on the number of hydrogen bonds: adenine and thymine form two, cytosine and guanine form three, so their destruction requires more energy.
Meaning
Complementarity is a property that plays an important role in DNA replication and RNA synthesis. It is thanks to it that the usual mechanism for transmitting hereditary information exists. The principle of complementarity plays a key role in the process of RNA synthesis and the DNA matrix.
Complementarity in other areas of biology
And enzymatic catalysis also uses the term complementarity. This concept in enzymology is used to describe the specificity of an enzyme in relation to a certain starting substance (substrate). Enzymes, due to their specificity, can bind only to certain substrates and act only on certain chemical bonds in their molecules. The fewer substances an enzyme can catalyze, the greater its specificity. In enzymatic catalysis, complementarity is the formation of a specific bond between the active site of an enzyme and a substrate molecule. That is, complementarity plays an important role in the transformation of chemicals in living organisms.
Bottom line
Based on the examples described, we can conclude that complementarity is the mutual complementation of certain substances of organic nature, as a result of which a chemical bond is formed (in the structure of DNA and RNA), a reaction is catalyzed (in enzymatic catalysis), or a combination of non-allelic genes, as a result of which new trait (in genetics). Most often the term is applied to the structure of DNA and RNA and refers to the formation of hydrogen bonds between nitrogenous bases.