Proposed conformations of the analog base pairs employed in this study. The abbreviations of the analogs are as follows: U, uracil; G, guanine; Hx, hypoxanthine (deoxyinosine); R, nebularine (purine); A, adenine; 2AP, 2-aminopurine; DAP, 2,6-diaminopurine. U:A, U:2AP and U:DAP are of normal Watson–Crick geometry. U:R is stabilized by one hydrogen-bonding interaction in a pseudo Watson–Crick geometry. U:G and U:Hx exhibit wobble geometry [adapted from (28)].