<P> The phosphodiester linkage between two ribonucleotides can be broken by alkaline hydrolysis, whereas the linkage between two deoxyribonucleotides is more stable under these conditions . The relative ease of RNA hydrolysis is an effect of the presence of the 2' hydroxyl group . </P> <P> A phosphodiesterase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of phosphodiester bonds, for instance a bond in a molecule of cyclic AMP or cyclic GMP . </P> <P> An enzyme that plays an important role in the repair of oxidative DNA damage is the 3' - phosphodiesterase . </P> <P> During the replication of DNA, there is a hole between the phosphates in the backbone left by DNA polymerase I. DNA ligase is able to form a phosphodiester bond between the nucleotides . </P>

Where does the phosphodiester bond connect the two nucleotides