Nucleotide Structure
DNA, the prime informational macromolecule of life, is a polymer made up of monomers called nucleotides.

In turn, nucleotides are made up of three parts:

• A five carbon sugar called deoxyribose
• A heterocyclic ring structure comprised of carbons and nitrogens called a base
• A phosphate group

The structure shown at the left is dCMP one of the four monomers in DNA.

Click on the hyperlinks above to isolate the various parts of a nucleotide. Click here to restore the image to its original form.