question_answer 82)

  Which moieties of nucleosides are involved in the formation of phosphodiester linkages present in dinucleotides ? What does the word diester in the name of linkage indicate ? Which acid is involved in the formation of this linkage ?

Answer:

                  In the formation of dinucleotides, the 3' -OH group of one nucleotide unit and 5' -OH group of the other Koucleotide molecule are involved to form the phosphodiester linkage (refer to Fig. 14.26, page 14/41). The acid involved in this linkage is phosphoric acid and the word diester in this linkage indicates that two -OH groups of phosphoric acid are involved in the formation of ester linkages.