Biology as Poetry: Biochemistry

Bacteriophage Ecology Group

Phosphodiester Linkage

Connection between nucleotides in a DNA and RNA.

Basically the connection is more or less equivalent to that between phosphate groups in ATP and ADP, i.e., a phosphate is found on both sides via dehydration synthesis reaction. The actual chain thus consists of -C-O-P-O-C- with P-O-C alone, where the P is also double bonded to an oxygen atom, is a phosphoester linkage (and C-O-C, where one of the carbons possesses a carbonyl group, is an example of an ester linkage).

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