Recognition of Watson-Crick base pairs: Constraints and limits due to geometric selection and tautomerism

Abstract

The natural bases of nucleic acids have a strong preference for one tautomer form, guaranteeing fidelity in their hydrogen bonding potential. However, base pairs observed in recent crystal structures of polymerases and ribosomes are best explained by an alternative base tautomer, leading to the formation of base pairs with Watson-Crick-like geometries. These observations set limits to geometric selection in molecular recognition of complementary Watson-Crick pairs for fidelity in replication and translation processes. © 2014 Faculty of 1000 Ltd.