ABSTRACT
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a linear polynucleotide consisting of four types of monomeric nucleotides. Each nucleotide contains three components: a deoxyribose, a nitrogenous base, and a phosphate group (Figure 11.1). The four bases for DNA are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T) (Figure 11.2). The deoxyribose is attached to the nitrogen of a base. The phosphate group is attached to the deoxyribose (Figure 11.3). In a polynucleotide, individual nucleotides are linked by phosphodiester bonds (Figure 11.4).
