Which term is defined as the monomer of nucleic acids made up of a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base?

Which term is defined as the monomer of nucleic acids made up of a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base?

• A. Nucleotide
• B. Macromolecule
• C. Polysaccharide
• D. Disaccharide

Answer: (A)

The building block of nucleic acids is a nucleotide. A nucleotide is defined by a five-carbon sugar (ribose in RNA or deoxyribose in DNA), a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. This combination is the basic unit that links together through the phosphate–sugar backbone to form DNA or RNA polymers, with the base portion encoding genetic information. The other terms refer to different categories: a macromolecule is a large molecule in general, not a single unit; a polysaccharide is a long chain of sugars; a disaccharide is just two sugar units. So, the nucleotide best fits the definition as the monomer of nucleic acids.

The building block of nucleic acids is a nucleotide. A nucleotide is defined by a five-carbon sugar (ribose in RNA or deoxyribose in DNA), a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. This combination is the basic unit that links together through the phosphate–sugar backbone to form DNA or RNA polymers, with the base portion encoding genetic information. The other terms refer to different categories: a macromolecule is a large molecule in general, not a single unit; a polysaccharide is a long chain of sugars; a disaccharide is just two sugar units. So, the nucleotide best fits the definition as the monomer of nucleic acids.