The two bases are held together by three hydrogen bonds, two that involve donation of hydrogen atoms
from Guanine to Cytosine and one in the reverse direction. If atoms are represented using van der Waals radii (VDW atoms depict adjacent, but non-bonded atoms as just "touching") the hydrogen bonds can be seen as an interaction between the donated hydrogen atoms and the electronegative acceptor atoms. The DNA molecule includes two different base pairs: Cytosine-Guanine and Adenine-Thymine: |