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.
DNA and RNA are composed of nucleotides that are linked to one another in a chain by chemical bonds, called ester bonds, between the sugar base of one nucleotide and the phosphate group of the adjacent nucleotide. The sugar is the 3' end, and the phosphate is the 5' end of each nucleiotide.
The hydroxyl group attached to the 3â carbon of the second nucleotide is also lost. The linkage between the nucleotides in a polynucleotide is called a phosphodiester bond, âphospho-â indicating the presence of a phos-phorus atom and âdiesterâ referring to the two ester (CâOâP) bonds in each linkage.