Sort these Pant A Components nucleotide building blocks by their number of nucleotides or classification. Phosphate Ribose Deoxyribose Purine Pyrimidine
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Sorted Pant A Components by Classification / Number of Nucleotides:
Not Nucleotides (Single Chemical Components):
- Phosphate
- Ribose
- Deoxyribose
Nitrogenous Bases (Part of Nucleotides):
4. Purine
5. Pyrimidine
Explanation
The nucleotide building blocks listed—phosphate, ribose, deoxyribose, purine, and pyrimidine—can be sorted based on whether they are standalone chemical components or parts of a complete nucleotide, and based on their structural roles in nucleic acids (DNA and RNA).
A nucleotide consists of three key components:
- A phosphate group
- A five-carbon sugar (either ribose or deoxyribose)
- A nitrogenous base (either a purine or pyrimidine)
The first three items on the list—phosphate, ribose, and deoxyribose—are not nucleotides on their own, but rather subcomponents. Phosphate contributes the acidic, negatively charged part of DNA and RNA, allowing nucleotides to link via phosphodiester bonds. Ribose is the sugar found in RNA, while deoxyribose is found in DNA and lacks one oxygen atom compared to ribose.
The last two components—purine and pyrimidine—are nitrogenous bases, also not full nucleotides by themselves. These are further classified based on their ring structures:
- Purines have a double-ring structure and include adenine (A) and guanine (G).
- Pyrimidines have a single-ring structure and include cytosine (C), thymine (T) (in DNA), and uracil (U) (in RNA).
When any of these bases is attached to a sugar and phosphate, they form a complete nucleotide such as ATP, dGTP, or UMP. So, none of the listed items is a full nucleotide on its own. Instead, they are parts that combine to make one.
Thus, they are best sorted into:
- Subcomponents of nucleotides: phosphate, ribose, deoxyribose
- Nitrogenous bases: purine, pyrimidine
