DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule that contains all the genetic material within a cell. DNA molecules contain information required for production of proteins that enable cells to carry out their various functions. DNA molecules have double-helical structure and such structures are composed of monomeric units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide has contain a 5-carbon sugar (called pentose), a nitrogenous base and phosphate groups. There are 4 different nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T). Nucelotides are connected to each other by covalent bonds, in each strand of DNA. These covalent bonds occur between the 3' carbon atom of a pentose sugar to that o 5' carbon atom on an adjacent sugar. The two strands of DNA are connected to each other by base-pairing. A always pairs with T and C always pairs with G, and this base-pairing connects the two DNA strands together and gives it a double-helical structure.
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