Question

The phosphodiester bond in a nucleic acid is formed between

• A. 3’ carbon of one sugar of the nucleotide with the 5’ carbon of the sugar of the succeeding nucleotide
• B. 5’ carbon of one sugar of the nucleotide with the 3’ carbon of the sugar of the preceding nucleotide
• C. any two adjacent nucleotides in a nucleic acid in which 5’ and 3’ hydroxyls of two adjacent sugars form a double ester with phosphoric acid
• D. All the above statements are correct

Answer 1

The correct option is D All the above statements are correct

A phosphodiester bond is formed between 3rd carbon of one ribose or deoxyribose sugar in one nucleotide and the 5th carbon atom of ribose or deoxyribose of the succeeding nucleotide. The reverse also holds true that a phosphodiester bond is formed between the 5th carbon of one sugar of the nucleotide with the 3rd carbon of the sugar of the preceding nucleotide.
Another way of defining the phosphodiester bond is that it is formed between any two adjacent nucleotides in a nucleic acid in which 5’ and 3’ hydroxyls of two adjacent sugars form a double ester with phosphoric acid.