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Phosphodiester bond

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Diagram of phosphodiester bonds between nucleotides

A phosphodiester bond is a group of strong covalent bonds between the phosphorus atom in a phosphate group and two other molecules over two ester bonds. Phosphodiester bonds are central to all life on Earth, as they make up the backbone of the strands of DNA. In DNA and RNA, the phosphodiester bond is the linkage between the 3' carbon atom and the 5' Carbon of the ribose sugar.

The phosphate groups in the phosphodiester bond are very negatively-charged. Because the phosphate groups have a pKa near 0, they are negatively-charged at pH 7. This repulsion forces the phosphates to take opposite sides of the DNA strands and is neutralized by proteins (histones), metal ions, and polyamines.


Hydrolysis of Phosphodiester bonds can be catalyzed by the action of phosphodiesterases which play an important role in repairing DNA sequences.


Enzyme activity Edit




See also Edit


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