Structure of a nucleoside triphosphate (= nucleotide)
In a nucleotide, the base is attached to
the 1'-C of the sugar, and the inorganic phosphate
to the 5'-C. The pentose (5-carbon)
sugar on the left and in the middle is identifiable as a deoxyribose
by the absence of an -O- from the hydroxyl
group on the 2'-C, as compared with the RNA
nucleotide at right.
Figure © 2012 TA Brown, Introduction to Genetics (1st
ed.); additional text © 2024 by Steven M. Carr