Answer to Question #93247 in Genetics for Nour fahes

Question

Can we say about a nucleoside Di or Triphosphate a nucleotide? Or nucleotides are exclusively nucleoside monophosphate?

Answer 1

A nucleotide is a structural monomer of nucleic acid consisting of a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar, and a phosphate group. Therefore, according to IUPAC, nucleotides are considered as nucleoside monophosphates while nucleoside di- or triphosphates are not nucleotides. However, some textbooks may define "nucleotides" as nucleosides containing two or three phosphates, that is wrong according to official nomenclature.