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This nucleotide contains the five-carbon sugar deoxyribose (at center), a nucleobase called adenine (upper right), and one phosphate group (left). The deoxyribose sugar joined only to the nitrogenous base forms a Deoxyribonucleoside called deoxyadenosine, whereas the whole structure along with the phosphate group is a nucleotide, a constituent of DNA with the name deoxyadenosine monophosphate.
A-DNA, is a form of the DNA duplex observed under dehydrating conditions. It is shorter and wider than B-DNA. RNA adopts this double helical form, and RNA-DNA duplexes are mostly A-form, but B-form RNA-DNA duplexes have been observed. [14] In localized single strand dinucleotide contexts, RNA can also adopt the B-form without pairing to DNA. [15]
DNA consists of two long polymers of monomer units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands are oriented in opposite directions to each other and are, therefore, antiparallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called nucleobases (informally, bases).
Ribonucleotides are linked together to form RNA strands via phosphodiester bonds. The 5'-phosphate group of one nucleotide is linked to the 3'-hydroxyl group of the next nucleotide, creating a backbone of alternating phosphate and pentose residues. There is no phosphodiester bond at each end of the polynucleotide. [5]
A nucleobase linked to a sugar is called a nucleoside, and a base linked to a sugar and to one or more phosphate groups is called a nucleotide. A biopolymer comprising multiple linked nucleotides (as in DNA) is called a polynucleotide. [13] The backbone of the DNA strand is made from alternating phosphate and sugar groups. [14]
A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nucleotides. By convention, sequences are usually presented from the 5' end to the 3' end.
The DNA double helix biopolymer of nucleic acid is held together by nucleotides which base pair together. [3] In B-DNA, the most common double helical structure found in nature, the double helix is right-handed with about 10–10.5 base pairs per turn. [4] The double helix structure of DNA contains a major groove and minor groove.
Each unit is joined when a covalent bond forms between its phosphate group and the pentose sugar of the next nucleotide, forming a sugar-phosphate backbone. DNA is a complementary, double stranded structure as specific base pairing (adenine and thymine, guanine and cytosine) occurs naturally when hydrogen bonds form between the nucleotide bases.