Final answer:
The five-carbon sugar in DNA nucleotides is not ribose, but deoxyribose, as ribose is the sugar component of RNA nucleotides.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the five-carbon sugar in DNA nucleotides is called ribose is false. The correct sugar found in DNA is deoxyribose, which differs from ribose by the absence of a hydroxyl (-OH) group at the 2' carbon position. In DNA nucleotides, the sugar is specifically 2-deoxyribose, whereas ribose is the sugar present in RNA nucleotides. Both deoxyribose and ribose are D-sugars that have their carbon atoms numbered 1', 2', 3', 4', and 5'. The phosphate group is connected to the 5' carbon of the sugar, and the nitrogenous bases are attached to the 1' carbon.