1. Organic molecules consisting of a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and a phosphate group; the basic structural units of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA).
Usage: technical; biology; plural form of mononucleotide

Examples

• DNA is composed of four different mononucleotides containing the bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine.
• Mononucleotides link together through phosphodiester bonds to form polynucleotide chains.
• The cell breaks down nucleic acids into mononucleotides during digestion.
• RNA mononucleotides contain ribose sugar, while DNA mononucleotides contain deoxyribose.
• Scientists can synthesize mononucleotides in the laboratory for genetic research.
• The sequence of mononucleotides in a gene determines the amino acid sequence of a protein.