Any of several complex compounds occurring in living cells, usually chemically bound to proteins to form nucleoproteins.
Nucleic acids are of high molecular weight are easily changed by many mild chemical reagents. They
contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen (15–
16%), and phosphorus (9–10%).
The fundamental units of nucleic acid, are
nucleotides, nucleic acids, and polynucleotides in
which the nucleotides are linked by phosphate
bridges. Upon extensive heating in the presence of
water (hydrolysis), nucleic acids yield a mixture of
purines and pyrimidines, d-ribose or d-deoxyribose,
and phosphoric acid. Nucleic acids are subdivided
into two types: ribonucleic acid (RNA), containing the sugar d-ribose, and deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA), containing the sugar d-deoxyribose.
See deoxyribonucleic acid; ribonucleic acid; nucleoside; nucleotide; nucleoprotein.
Good sources of nucleic acids are salmon, thymus,
yeast, and wheat kernel embryo.
