How are nucleic acids formed?
1 Answer
Nucleic acids are formed when nucleotides come together through phosphodiester linkages between the 5' and 3' carbon atoms .
Explanation:
Nucleic acids are formed when nucleotides come together through phosphodiester linkages between the 5' and 3' carbon atoms.
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, or biomolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of monomers, which are nucleotides made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base.
The sequence of the bases in the chain contains the information needed to form enzymes and other proteins: the workhorses that make things happen in the cell. These sequences are called genes.
Because the sequence of the bases in the chain is so highly critical the Nucleic Acids (DNA, and various forms of RNA) do not form spontaneously in a mixture of nucleotides, but are synthesised by proteins (called Polymerases), using an already existing molecule as a template. This process is known as Replication.
Sources provided for this answer:
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleic_acid_structure)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleic_acid)
