Lecture : Bio Notes 248 - Monophosphates
Document Summary
Monophosphate, also known as a nucleotide monophosphate or a nucleoside monophosphate, is a type of molecule found in nucleic acids. It is made up of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and a single phosphate group. The nitrogenous base in a monophosphate can be one of four different types: adenine, cytosine, guanine, or uracil (in rna) or thymine (in dna). The pentose sugar in a monophosphate can be ribose (in rna) or deoxyribose (in dna). The phosphate group in a monophosphate molecule is attached to the 5" carbon of the sugar, and it is involved in forming the backbone of the nucleic acid molecule. Monophosphates are important building blocks of nucleic acids such as dna and rna. They can be joined together via phosphodiester bonds to form longer chains of nucleotides. These chains can then fold into complex three-dimensional structures, ultimately forming the double helix structure of dna or the various structures of rna.
