Question

What is the composition of nucleic acid?

Answer 1

Nucleic acid

• Nucleic acids are the polymers of nucleotides and they are joined together by a phosphodiester linkage. Nucleotides are the structural units of nucleic acids and are composed of a nitrogenous base, pentose i.e.,five carbon sugar either ribose or 2′-deoxyribose and a phosphate group.

Chemical composition of nucleic acid

• When DNA (or RNA) is completely hydrolyzed, it produces phosphoric acid, a pentose sugar, and a nitrogenous base.
• The sugar moiety in DNA molecules is $\text{β}$-D-2-deoxyribose, whereas it is $\text{β}$-D-ribose in RNA molecules.