base pair (redirected from Watson-Crick base pair)

base pair

n.

The pair of nitrogenous bases, consisting of a purine linked by hydrogen bonds to a pyrimidine, that connects the complementary strands of DNA or of hybrid molecules joining DNA and RNA. The base pairs are adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine in DNA, and adenine-uracil and guanine-cytosine in RNA.

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base pair

Any of the pairs of nucleotides connecting the complementary strands of a molecule of DNA or RNA and consisting of a purine linked to a pyrimidine by hydrogen bonds. The base pairs are adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine in DNA, and adenine-uracil and guanine-cytosine in RNA or in hybrid DNA-RNA pairing. Base pairs may be thought of as the rungs of the DNA ladder.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

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 deoxyribonucleic acid, desoxyribonucleic acid, DNA - (biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information; "DNA is the king of molecules" nucleotide, base - a phosphoric ester of a nucleoside; the basic structural unit of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA)