Question

A nucleotide consists of all of the following except?

• A. Sugar
• B. Phosphate
• C. Fatty acid
• D. Base

Hint:

Base + sugar + phosphate make a nucleotide; one option belongs to lipids.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Build a nucleotide from scratch. Start with a pentose sugar and attach a nitrogenous base at C1 to make a nucleoside.

Step 2: Esterify the sugar at the 5-prime carbon with phosphate; the resulting base + sugar + phosphate unit is the nucleotide.

Step 3: Nowhere in this assembly does a fatty acid appear; fatty acids belong to triglycerides and phospholipids. Among the options, only fatty acid is foreign to nucleotide structure.

\[\boxed{\text{Fatty acid}}\]