Which of the following are the basic units of nucleic acids?

Nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are polymers made up of smaller building blocks known as nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three components: a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar (ribose in RNA and deoxyribose in DNA), and one or more phosphate groups. These nucleotides link together through phosphodiester bonds to form the long chains characteristic of nucleic acids.

The role of nucleotides is crucial in the storage and transmission of genetic information, as they ultimately code for proteins in the body through the processes of transcription and translation. Thus, understanding that nucleotides are the fundamental units of nucleic acids is key to comprehending how genetic information is structured and expressed in living organisms.