Nucleotides are comprised of which components?

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Multiple Choice

Nucleotides are comprised of which components?

The basic unit of a nucleotide is built from three parts: a five-carbon sugar (pentose), a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. The sugar provides the backbone to which the phosphate attaches, forming the sugar–phosphate chain that holds nucleotides together in DNA or RNA. The nitrogenous base sticks to the sugar and encodes the genetic information through base pairing. In DNA the sugar is deoxyribose, in RNA it’s ribose, but in all cases you need those three components: pentose sugar, phosphate, and nitrogenous base. Glucose is a different kind of sugar, not used in nucleotides. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, not nucleotides, and lipids are fats, not components of nucleotides.

The basic unit of a nucleotide is built from three parts: a five-carbon sugar (pentose), a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. The sugar provides the backbone to which the phosphate attaches, forming the sugar–phosphate chain that holds nucleotides together in DNA or RNA. The nitrogenous base sticks to the sugar and encodes the genetic information through base pairing. In DNA the sugar is deoxyribose, in RNA it’s ribose, but in all cases you need those three components: pentose sugar, phosphate, and nitrogenous base.

Glucose is a different kind of sugar, not used in nucleotides. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, not nucleotides, and lipids are fats, not components of nucleotides.

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