The sugar found in the nucleotides of DNA is deoxyribose.
Deoxyribose is a five-carbon sugar molecule that is a crucial component of DNA. In nucleotides, which are the building blocks of DNA, deoxyribose forms part of the backbone along with phosphate groups. Each nucleotide consists of a deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base (adenine, thymine, cytosine, or guanine). The structure of deoxyribose is essential because it lacks one oxygen atom when compared to ribose, the sugar found in RNA. This absence of an oxygen atom is reflected in the name ‘deoxyribose,’ which means ‘lacking oxygen from ribose.’ The unique structure of deoxyribose contributes to the stability and double-helix formation of DNA, distinguishing it from RNA, which is typically single-stranded and more reactive due to the presence of ribose.