A nucleotide is composed of three main parts, which are the sugar, the nitrogenous base, and the phosphate group. The sugar component of the nucleotide is a five-carbon sugar, either deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA. The nitrogenous base can be adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine (in DNA), or uracil (in RNA). The phosphate group is important in the formation of phosphodiester bonds, which link several nucleotides in a linear fashion. These three parts are essential building blocks of DNA and RNA, which control the hereditary characteristics of living organisms.