The components of a nucleic acid include nucleotides, which are the building blocks of DNA and RNA. Each nucleotide consists of three components: a phosphate group, a sugar (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA), and a nitrogenous base (adenine, thymine, cytosine, or guanine in DNA; adenine, uracil, cytosine, or guanine in RNA). Nucleotides link together to form long strands, encoding genetic information and facilitating protein synthesis.