Which of the following statements about nucleic acid structure is wrong?
A.
The covalent backbones of nucleic acids consist of alternating phosphate and pentose residues, and the nitrogenous bases may be regarded as side groups joined to the backbone at regular intervals.
B.
The hydroxyl groups of the sugar residues form hydrogen bonds with water.
C.
The backbones of both DNA and RNA are hydrophobic.
D.
The phosphate groups, with a p K a near 0, are completely ionized and negatively charged at pH 7, and the negative charges are generally neutralized by ionic interactions with positive charges on proteins, metal ions, and polyamines.