Question

Nucleoside contains following

• A. Nitrogen Base + Sugar Moiety + Phosphate Group
• B. Nitrogen Base + Sugar Moiety only
• C. Nitrogen Base + Phosphate Group only
• D. Non-Nitrogen Base + Sugar Moiety + Phosphate Group

Hint:

Students often mix up 'nucleoside' and 'nucleotide'. The key difference is just one part — the phosphate group.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Concept:
Students often mix up 'nucleoside' and 'nucleotide'. The key difference is just one part — the phosphate group.

Step 1:
A nucleoside is made of only two parts: a nitrogen base (like adenine or guanine) joined to a sugar (ribose or deoxyribose). There is no phosphate in a nucleoside.

Step 2:
If you then add a phosphate group, it becomes a nucleotide. So nucleotide = nucleoside + phosphate. The simple memory trick is 'nucleoTide has the Ta phosphate (T for the extra part)'.

Step 3:
So the option with only nitrogen base + sugar (and no phosphate) is the nucleoside; the options that include a phosphate are describing a nucleotide instead.

Answer: Option (2) — Nitrogen Base + Sugar Moiety only.