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Biology vocabulary · Genetics and Heredity

Nucleotide

Meaning in biology, with examples

/ˈnuːkliəˌtaɪd/nounCommon term

In biology, nucleotide means: The basic building block of DNA and RNA, made of a sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogen-containing base such as adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) or cytosine (C).

In Turkish: nükleotit, nükleotid

How it is used

In DNA, A pairs with T and G pairs with C; in RNA, uracil (U) replaces thymine. People talk about nucleotide sequences, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and nucleotide substitutions. A DNA strand is a chain of nucleotides.

Example sentences

  1. A change in a single nucleotide can alter the amino acid that a codon codes for.

  2. The primer is about 20 nucleotides long.

Common collocations

  • nucleotide sequence
  • single-nucleotide polymorphism
  • nucleotide substitution
  • base pair
  • DNAShort for deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that stores genetic information in every cell and in many viruses. It is made of two strands twisted into a double helix.
  • RNAShort for ribonucleic acid, a usually single-stranded molecule that carries genetic information from DNA and helps build proteins. It contains uracil instead of thymine.
  • mutationA permanent change in the DNA sequence of a gene or chromosome. It can be harmful, neutral or occasionally useful, and it is a source of genetic variation.
  • genomeThe complete set of genetic material in an organism or cell, including all of its genes and the DNA between them.
  • amino acidOne of the small building blocks that join in chains to make proteins. Living things use 20 common amino acids, each with a different side chain.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Genetics and Heredity

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