Q. Which of the following represents the structure of a nucleotide?
Solution:
Solution:
Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides and are macromolecules. There are two types of nucleic acids namely- deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA). The nucleotide serves as the building block of nucleic acid. A nucleotide is composed of: A phosphate group, a five-carbon sugar or pentose sugar, a heterocyclic nitrogen-containing compound called the base. There are four different bases commonly found in DNA are adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine. In a nucleic acid, a phosphate moiety links the 3' carbon of one sugar of one nucleotide to the 5' carbon of the sugar of the succeeding nucleotide. The bond formed between the phosphate and hydroxyl group of sugar is an ester bond. As there is one such ester bond on either side, it is called a phosphodiester bond.