Final answer:
The 5' carbon in five-carbon sugars ribose and deoxyribose is where the phosphate group attaches, forming an ester linkage and contributing to the sugar-phosphate backbone of nucleic acids. This feature differentiates DNA from RNA, with deoxyribose lacking the hydroxyl group at the 2' carbon.
Step-by-step explanation:
The 5' carbon is significant because it is the point of attachment for the phosphate group in nucleic acids, namely DNA and RNA. In the structure of a nucleotide, the 5' carbon of the five-carbon sugar (ribose in RNA and deoxyribose in DNA) forms an ester linkage with a phosphate group. This linkage is crucial for the formation of the sugar-phosphate backbone of the nucleic acid polymers. In DNA, a hydroxyl (OH) group is attached to the 3' carbon, while in RNA, there is also a hydroxyl group on the 2' carbon.
The five-carbon sugars, ribose and deoxyribose, are integral to the structure of nucleotides. The presence or absence of the hydroxyl group at the 2' carbon in these sugars distinguishes DNA from RNA, with deoxyribose missing the hydroxyl group, hence the prefix 'deoxy-' in DNA. It's this hydroxyl group that makes RNA more chemically reactive and less stable than DNA. The firmer structure of DNA with just a hydrogen atom at the 2' carbon makes it more suitable for the long-term storage of genetic information.