Question

Which statements explain the primary difference between the structure of a nucleic acid and the structure of a protein?

a. A nucleic acid has alternating base pairs. A protein has alternating peptides.
b. A nucleic acid is held together by the sugar­phosphate complex. A protein is held together by the carbon­ carbon bonds.
c. Nitrogen bases form the backbone of a nucleic acid. Peptides form the backbone of a protein.
d. Nucleotides link together to form a nucleic acid. Amino acids link together to form a protein.

Answer 1

A. A nucleic acid has alternating base pairs. A protein has alternating peptides.

Answer 2

d. Nucleotides link together to form a nucleic acid. Amino acids link together to form a protein.

Step-by-step explanation:

A nucleotide is a bio-molecule which has a sugar phosphate backbone in which a sugar (deoxyribose / ribose sugar) and a phosphate group is attached to each other alternately through phosphodiester bond and a nitrogenous base is attached to the sugar molecule with the help of N- Glycosidic bond.

In case of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), nucleotides are the monomer units and when these monomeric units join each other to form a chain of nucleotides they are able to create these polymers known as nucleic acids.

Proteins on the other hand are another class of bio-molecules which are the polymers of monomeric units known as amino acids. In proteins, various amino acids are attached to each other with the help of peptide bond.