Final answer:
A nucleotide consists of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base, and this statement is true. The sugars involved are deoxyribose for DNA and ribose for RNA, and the nucleotides are linked to form DNA or RNA strands, encoding genetic information.
Step-by-step explanation:
True. A nucleotide consists of three fundamental components: a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base.
Nucleotides are the basic building units of nucleic acids, which are vital for life. These nucleic acids include DNA and RNA, important for genetic information storage and protein synthesis. The sugar in a DNA nucleotide is deoxyribose, while in RNA it is ribose. The phosphate group is attached to the sugar, and one of the five nitrogen bases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, or uracil) is attached to the sugar. Thymine is found only in DNA, while uracil is found only in RNA.
These nucleotides can be linked together to form long chains, creating the DNA double-helical structure or RNA molecule. The specific sequence of these nitrogen bases along the DNA or RNA strand is what encodes genetic information.