Question
Question: Write down any two differences between nucleoside and nucleotide....
Write down any two differences between nucleoside and nucleotide.
Solution
DNA is a polynucleotide chain which is found in organisms and viruses. Nucleoside and nucleotides are part of a DNA.
Complete step by step answer:
DNA is a molecule which consists of many nucleotides arranged in a manner.
Differences between nucleotide and nucleosides are:
| Nucleotide | Nucleoside |
|---|---|
| Chemical composition of nucleotides has a phosphate group, a sugar and a nitrogenous base. | Nucleoside consists of a sugar and a base only. It does not contain phosphorus. |
| Nucleotides are cancer causing agents. | Nucleosides are agents in medicine that are mainly used against viruses and cancer-causing agents. |
| Examples for nucleotides are adenosine, guanosine etc. | Nucleosides are nucleotides with a phosphate group. |
Additional Information: Nucleosides are nucleotides without a phosphate group. They have a nucleobase and five carbon sugar. Nucleotides are the monomer units of the polymer DNA. The bases in nucleotides in case of DNA are Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine. Nucleotide is also a monomer unit of the polymer RNA, except that the bases in the nucleotide are Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Uracil. The way the bases are arranged in DNA or RNA gives the genetic information. The sugar molecule in DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid and in case of RNA is ribonucleic acid. It is five carbon membered sugar. DNA can form a double helix. It has 4 types of structures: primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structures. DNA does not exist as a single strand.
Note: Nucleotides are the backbone of DNA molecules. A nucleotide without a phosphate group is called a nucleoside. The backbone of DNA is made by alternating phosphate and sugar groups. The sugars are joined together by phosphate groups. The DNA double helix is held together mainly because of two forces: hydrogen bonds and base stacking interaction between aromatic bases.