Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a double-stranded duplex of deoxyribonucleic acids (i.e. purine and pyrimidine bases) joined together by a backbone of alternating sugar and phosphate groups (see below).

What type of bond links the nucleic acids in the DNA backbone together?

Question

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a double-stranded duplex of deoxyribonucleic acids (i.e. purine and pyrimidine bases) joined together by a backbone of alternating sugar and phosphate groups (see below).

What type of bond links the nucleic acids in the DNA backbone together?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks: What type of bond links the nucleic acids in the DNA backbone together?
Option 1: Nucleophilic. This is a general term describing a chemical species that donates an electron pair in a reaction, not a specific bond type in the DNA backbone. So this is not the correct descriptor for the backbone linkage.
Option 2: Aromatic. Aromatic refers to ring stability and conjugated pi systems, not to the covalent linkage between sugar and phosphate in DNA. The backbone bonding is not an aromatic bond, so this is incorrect.
Option 3: Hydrogen. Hydrogen bonds in DNA stabilize base pairing between the two strands, but the backbone itself is connected by covalent bonds, not hydrogen bonds. Therefore this choice misidentifies the backbone linkage.
Option 4: Phosphodiester. This is the correct description: each backbone linkage consists of a phosphate group connected to two sugars via ester bonds, forming phosphodiester bonds that join successive nucleotides. This covalent linkage creates the sugar–phosphate backbone of DNA.
In summary, options 1–3 describe concepts unrelated to the actual covalent connection in the backbone, while option 4 accurately identifies the phosphodiester bond type that links nucleotides in the DNA backbone.

BCMB20005_2025_SM1 Lecture 2 Quiz

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a double-stranded duplex of deoxyribonucleic acids (i.e. purine and pyrimidine bases) joined together by a backbone of alternating sugar and phosphate groups (see below). What type of bond links the nucleic acids in the DNA backbone together?

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