Simple carbohydrates are called monosaccharides and include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Disaccharides include lactose and sucrose. Figure 81 shows the basic sugars seen as monosaccharides or disaccharides in nature:
Figure 81.
NUCLEIC ACIDS Nucleic acids are the main genetic material molecules in living things. There are two types: DNA and RNA. DNA is a long chain of unique nucleotides, which are the subunits of DNA and RNA. Nucleotides can be broken down into a pentose (5-carbon) sugar, phosphoric acid, and a nitrogenous base. Figure 82 shows what the nucleotides look like:
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