Question

What are nucleotides named according to ?

Answer 1

Nucleotides are named as follows:

• If the sugar is deoxyribose, the name of the nucleotide begins with "deoxy," as in deoxyadenosine monophosphate (dAMP). If the sugar is ribose, this molecule would be adenosine monophosphate (AMP).
• The name of the purine or pyrimidine base is modified to indicate that it is combined with sugar as follows: adenine becomes adenosine, cytosine becomes cytidine, guanine becomes guanosine, uracil becomes uridine, thymine becomes thymidine.
• The number of phosphate groups is indicated by the terms monophosphate, diphosphate, or triphosphate.

Examples: ATP (adenosine triphosphate) contains the base adenine, the sugar ribose, and three phosphate groups; dAMP contains the base adenine, the sugar deoxyribose, and one phosphate group.