Question

Draw structures of the nucleotides containing the following components: (a) deoxyribose and cytosine, (b) ribose and uracil.

Short answer

There are two nucleotides to be drawn here. The first nucleotide, with deoxyribose and cytosine, has a five-carbon sugar (deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and a single-ring nitrogen base - cytosine. The second nucleotide, with ribose and uracil, is similar but has ribose sugar instead and a different single-ring nitrogen base - uracil.

Step-by-step solution

Identify the components

For each part of the problem, identify the sugar molecule and the nitrogen base that must be joined to form the nucleotide. We are given (a) deoxyribose and cytosine, (b) ribose and uracil.

Draw nucleotide with deoxyribose and cytosine

A nucleotide is made up of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base. Here, we will draw the structure of a nucleotide with deoxyribose and cytosine. 1. Outline the structure of deoxyribose. Deoxyribose is a five-carbon sugar. 2. Add a phosphate group attached to the 5' carbon of the sugar molecule. 3. Add the structure of cytosine to the 1' carbon of the sugar molecule. Cytosine is a pyrimidine, which consist of a single ring structure. It has 3 ring Nitrogen atoms, two at positions 1 and 3 and one at position 7.

Draw nucleotide with ribose and uracil

Next, we will draw the structure of a nucleotide with ribose and uracil. 1. Outline the structure of ribose. Ribose is also a five-carbon sugar. 2. Add a phosphate group attached to the 5' carbon of the sugar molecule. 3. Add the structure of uracil to the 1' carbon of the sugar molecule. Uracil, like cytosine, is a pyrimidine, which consists of a single ring structure. It has 2 ring Nitrogen atoms, both at positions 1 and 3.