nucleotide
nounUS /ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/
Etymology From nucleo- (“relating to the nucleus”) + -ide (“chemical suffix”).
1
Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences The monomer constituting DNA or RNA biopolymer molecules. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous heterocyclic base (or nucleobase), which can be either a double-ringed purine or a single-ringed pyrimidine; a five-carbon pentose sugar (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA); and a phosphate group.
- With a genome of only 400 million or so nucleotide bases, the pufferfish, Fugu rubripes rubripes, has the smallest known genome of any vertebrate animal. […] But the region of DNA between the landmarks can be a million or more nucleotides long.1993 December 28, James Younger, “Fishy Short Cut To Mapping Human Genome”, in The New York Times:
- Magid draws […] a diagram depicting a restriction enzyme cutting neatly through a sequence of nucleotides.2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 464:
- Derived terms
49 terms
antinucleotide, binucleotide, cyclic nucleotide, decanucleotide, deoxynucleotide, deoxyribonucleotide, desoxynucleotide, dideoxynucleotide, dinucleotide, diphosphopyridine nucleotide, dodecanucleotide, duodecanucleotide, ectonucleotide, endonucleotide, exonucleotide, fluoronucleotide, glyceronucleotide, heptanucleotide, heteronucleotide, hexanucleotide, homonucleotide, internucleotide, intranucleotide, kilonucleotide, meganucleotide, mononucleotide, multinucleotide, nonanucleotide, nucleotidase, nucleotidic, nucleotidyl, nucleotidylexotransferase, nucleotidyltransferase, octanucleotide, oligodeoxynucleotide, oligonucleotide, pentanucleotide, phosphonucleotide, polynucleotidase, polynucleotide, quadranucleotide, radionucleotide, ribonucleotide, septanucleotide, tetranucleotide, trinucleotide, trinucleotide repeat disorder, triphosphopyridine nucleotide, undecanucleotide- Related terms
- nucleoside, nucleobase, DNA, RNA
- Hyponyms
- adenosine triphosphate, adenylate, guanylate, cytidylate, thymidylate, uridylate
- Meronyms
- nucleoside, nucleobase