There are two kinds of nucleic acids, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). DNA is found mainly in the chromatin of the cell nucleus, whereas most of the RNA (90%) is present in the cytoplasm and a little (10%) in the nucleolus. Upon hydrolysis, the two nucleic acids yield three components of phosphoric acid, a pentose sugar, and nitrogenous bases as shown in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1 Components of Nucleic Acid