base pair

noun

, Genetics.

1. any of the pairs of the hydrogen-bonded purine and pyrimidine bases that form the links between the sugar-phosphate backbones of nucleic acid molecules: the pairs are adenine and thymine in DNA, adenine and uracil in RNA, and guanine and cytosine in both DNA and RNA.

base pair

1. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of base pair¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

T. oblanceolata displaces the previous genome record holder, a modestly sized flowering plant called Paris japonica that has 149 billion base pairs.

From Los Angeles Times

The resulting indexes, available for download and via a web portal, allow users to scan sequences comprising trillions of base pairs and billions of amino acids.

From Science Magazine

The human genome is made up of 3 billion base pairs of DNA.

From Science Magazine

The fern was found to have a record-breaking genome size of 160 billion base pairs of DNA, which when unravelled would stretch out to about 100 metres.

From BBC

The human genome consists of around 3 billion base pairs and humans are all 99.6% identical in their genetic makeup.

From Science Daily