nucleic acids

views updated

nucleic acids Polymers of purine and pyrimidine sugar phosphates; two main classes: ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Collectively the purines and pyrimidines are called bases. DNA is a double‐stranded polymer (the so‐called ‘double helix’) containing the five‐carbon sugar deoxyribose. RNA is a single‐stranded polymer containing the sugar ribose.

They are not nutritionally important, since dietary nucleic acids are hydrolysed to their bases, ribose and phosphate, in the intestinal tract; purines and pyrimidines can readily be synthesized in the body, and are not dietary essentials.

More From encyclopedia.com