nucleotide

nu·cle·o·tide  (nkl--td, ny-)

n.

Any of various compounds consisting of a nucleoside combined with a phosphate group and forming the basic constituent of DNA and RNA.

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[Alteration of nucleoside.]

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nucleotide  (nkl--td)

Any of a group of organic compounds composed of a nucleoside linked to a phosphate group. Nucleotides are the basic building blocks of nucleic acids.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

nucleotide - a phosphoric ester of a nucleoside; the basic structural unit of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) base base pair - one of the pairs of chemical bases joined by hydrogen bonds that connect the complementary strands of a DNA molecule or of an RNA molecule that has two strands; the base pairs are adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine in DNA and adenine with uracil and guanine with cytosine in RNA adenosine monophosphate, adenylic acid, AMP - a nucleotide found in muscle cells and important in metabolism; reversibly convertible to ADP and ATP adenosine diphosphate, ADP - an ester of adenosine that is converted to ATP for energy storage adenosine triphosphate, ATP - a nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue; the major source of energy for cellular reactions deoxyadenosine monophosphate, A - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) deoxycytidine monophosphate, C - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) deoxyguanosine monophosphate, G - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) deoxythymidine monophosphate, T - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) ester - formed by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water muton - the smallest unit of DNA where a mutation can occur U, uracil - a base containing nitrogen that is found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine