Draw the complete structure of uridine 5′- phosphate, one of the four major ribonucleotides.

Question

Accepted Answer

All right. Hello everyone. So this question says that adenosine five prime phosphate is a key ribonucleotide, which of the following structures accurately represents this nucleotide. And here we have four different answer choices labeled A through D proposing different possible structures. Now, before we talk about which of these answers is correct. Let's just go ahead and briefly review the components of a nucleotide because recall that nucleotides contain three main components, right. The first is the nitrogenous base. The second is the sugar backbone and the third component is a phosphate group. Now, in this particular case, our nitrogenous space is going to be a and because adenine is a purine base with a double ring structure, when a nucleotide is derived from a purine base like adenine, the suffix of that base is replaced with O si ne. So we go from adenine to adenosine, hence the name. So now in this particular case, the question also gives us a hint in that are adenosine five prime phosphate is a ribonucleotide. That's important because it gives us information about the sugar backbone that's to be used here. Specifically, the sugar in this case should be rye books So here, unlike deoxyribose, ribose should have a hydroxy group on the two prime carbon of the ring last but not least we have a phosphate group. And because our nucleotide is adenosine five prime phosphate, that phosphate group should be attaching to the five prime carbon outside of the ring. And so with this information in mind and comparing all of the answer choices to each other, the correct answer is going to be option D. That's the correct representation of adenosine five prime phosphate. Because here we have our adenine base, we have our rival's backbone and we have the phosphate group attached to the five prime carbon outside of the ring. But before I end the video, I very briefly just want to talk about why the remaining choices are wrong because first of all, when considering the structures of options, A B and C, the sugar backbone is not correct because notice how, when considering the sugar backbones and options A B and C, three of the carbons inside of the ring do not have hydroxy groups. So that's what makes it incorrect. Now, when considering options B and C respectively or individually, right? Their nitrogenous base is also incorrect because instead of having Adenine attaching to the sugar backbone, they both have guanine instead. So that's what makes both of them incorrect. Now, option C also has the phosphate group attaching to the three prime carbon of the ring, not the five prime carbon. So B and C are both incorrect. And so is option A because the sugar backbone is not correct and there you have it. So with that being said, thank you so very much for watching and I hope you found this helpful.

Draw the complete structure of uridine 5′- phosphate, one of the four major ribonucleotides.

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Key Concepts

Ribonucleotide Structure

Phosphate Group

Nitrogenous Bases