Question

In nucleic acids, the nitrogenous base is attached to the _______ carbon of the sugar.

a) 1'
b) 2'
c) 3'
d) 4'
e) 5'

Answer 1

In nucleic acids, the nitrogenous base is attached to the 1' carbon of the sugar, which is either ribose in RNA or deoxyribose in DNA.

Step-by-step explanation:

In nucleic acids, the nitrogenous base is attached to the 1' carbon of the sugar. This is a key aspect of the structure of nucleotides, which comprise the backbone of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA. There are two different sugars involved in the makeup of nucleic acids; these are deoxyribose in DNA, which lacks a hydroxyl (-OH) group at the 2' position, and ribose in RNA, which includes the hydroxyl group at the same position. The entire structure of a nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and one or more phosphate groups, with the base attached to the 1' position of the sugar and the phosphate to the 5' position.