Dideoxynucleotides

Question

Dideoxynucleotides
A) are useful in nucleic acid sequencing AND have two additional hydroxyl groups at the 2' and 3' carbons.
B) are useful in nucleic acid sequencing AND act as chain terminators.
C) act as chain initiators AND have two additional hydroxyl groups at the 2' and 3' carbons.
D) act as chain initiators AND are useful in nucleic acid sequencing.
E) are useful in generating proteins AND act as chain terminators.

Accepted Answer

Dideoxynucleotides are commonly used in nucleic acid sequencing because they lack a hydroxyl group at the 3' carbon, which prevents further nucleotides from being added to the growing chain. This leads to chain termination and the production of fragments of different sizes that can be used to sequence the original DNA or RNA molecule. The two additional hydroxyl groups at the 2' and 3' carbons mentioned in option A are actually present in regular nucleotides, not dideoxynucleotides. Options C and D are incorrect because dideoxynucleotides do not act as chain initiators. Option E is incorrect because dideoxynucleotides are not used in protein synthesis.