Sugar:
• All nucleotides contain a 5-carbon sugar (pentose); the pentose ribose is
found in RNA while deoxyribose is found in DNA. In deoxyribose
molecules, one oxygen atom (O) is missing from 2′ position (Fig. 3.1). The
nucleic acids (NA) are named after the sugar present in them, for
example,
• Ribose + nucleic acid —> Ribose-nucleic acid, commonly written
as “ribonucleic acid” (RNA).
• Deoxyribose + nucleic acid —> de-oxy-ribose-nucleic acid, commonly
written as “deoxyribonucleic acid” (DNA).