monomer of nucleic acids made up of a 5 carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base, usually called by the type of nitrogenous base present

Answer 1

The monomers of nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are called nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three components:

1. A 5-carbon sugar: In DNA, this sugar is deoxyribose; in RNA, it is ribose.
2. A phosphate group: This group is attached to the 5' carbon of the sugar.
3. A nitrogenous base: This base can vary, and its identity typically defines the type of nucleotide. The nitrogenous bases can be classified as purines (adenine (A) and guanine (G)) or pyrimidines (cytosine (C), thymine (T) for DNA, and uracil (U) for RNA).

When referencing nucleotides, they are often named according to their nitrogenous base, such as adenosine (for adenine), guanosine (for guanine), cytidine (for cytosine), thymidine (for thymine), and uridine (for uracil).