Macromolecules with subunits that consist of phosphate groups, five-carbon sugars, and various nitrogenous bases.
DNA and RNA are both nucleic acids, differing in terms of their pentose sugars (deoxyribose and ribose, respectively) as well as in terms of one of their associated nitrogenous bases. Key to the functioning of nucleic acid polymers – that is, polynucleic acids – is their ability to base pair through their nitrogenous bases.
The nucleic acid monomers are known as nucleotides, and absent the phosphate group they are described instead as nucleosides.
The following is a list of terms associated with nucleic acids:
Adenine,
ADP,
ATP,
Base pair,
Base pairing,
Base substitution,
Cyclic AMP,
Cytosine,
Deoxyribose,
Denaturation,
DNA,
Double helix,
Genetics,
Genome,
Genotype,
Guanine,
Hereditary material,
Mutation,
NAD+,
Nitrogenous base,
Nucleic acid,
Nucleoside,
Nucleoside analog,
Nucleotide,
Phosphodiester linkage,
Polynucleic acid,
Purine,
Pyrimidine,
Recombinant DNA,
Recombination,
Replication,
Ribose,
RNA,
Thymine,
Uracil,
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