Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
A nucleotide is made of a base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate group. Nucleotides join through phosphodiester bonds to form a strand.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The phosphate on one nucleotide links the 3' carbon of one sugar to the 5' carbon of the next sugar. So the backbone reads sugar - phosphate - sugar - phosphate.
Bases hang off the sugars and are not part of the backbone itself. Written from the phosphate end, the repeating pattern is phosphate - sugar - phosphate, which is what option (D) states.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Option (D), phosphate - sugar - phosphate.
Final Answer:
The DNA backbone alternates phosphate and sugar.
\[ \boxed{\text{(D) }\text{Phosphate-sugar-phosphate}} \]