having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful: an indolent person. 2. Pathology. causing little or no pain; inactive or relatively benign: an indolent ulcer that is not painful and is slow to heal.
A polynucleotide is a nucleic acid molecule consisting of a long chain of nucleotides. Nucleotides in a polynucleotide molecule are held together by a bond between the phosphate group of one nucleotide and the sugar of a second nucleotide, which is called a phosphodiester bond.
Each nucleotide base can hydrogen-bond with a specific partner base in a process known as complementary base pairing: Cytosine forms three hydrogen bonds with guanine, and adenine forms two hydrogen bonds with thymine. These hydrogen-bonded nitrogenous bases are often referred to as base pairs.