complementary strand
Americannoun
-
either of the two chains that make up a double helix of DNA, with corresponding positions on the two chains being composed of a pair of complementary bases.
-
a section of one nucleic acid chain that is bonded to another by a sequence of base pairs.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This model suggests that the two strands of the double helix separate during replication, and each strand serves as a template from which the new complementary strand is copied.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
The RNAi system pulls the siRNA strands apart and uses the complementary strand to seek out and bind to the target messenger, thus disabling it.
From Economist • Oct. 15, 2015
Each strand becomes a template along which a new complementary strand is built.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
When the helix unzips, the complementary strand becomes a template; its G, T and A bases naturally attract bases that amount to a carbon copy of the original strand, CAT.
From Time Magazine Archive
The damaged copy of a gene is reconstructed using the complementary strand, or the second copy of the gene, as its guide.*
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
