ribosomal RNA

noun

, Biochemistry.

1. a type of RNA, distinguished by its length and abundance, functioning in protein synthesis as a component of ribosomes. : rRNA

ribosomal RNA

noun

1. biochem a type of RNA thought to be transcribed from DNA in the nucleoli of cell nuclei, subsequently forming the component of ribosomes on which the translation of messenger RNA into protein chains is accomplished Sometimes shortened torRNA

ribosomal RNA

/ rī′bə-sō′məl /

1. The RNA that is a structural component of a ribosome. Comparison of gene sequences of the ribosomal RNA of different organisms has been used to determine evolutionary relationships among the organisms.
2. See more at RNA

Word History and Origins

Origin of ribosomal RNA¹

First recorded in 1960–65; ribosome + -al ¹

Example Sentences

With so many redundant copies, when the insertion disrupts one or a few ribosomal RNA genes, the loss of the genes won't be missed.

From Science Daily

All of these stubby arms huddle together to form a structure called the nucleolus, in which DNA is transcribed into ribosomal RNA, which then folds into the ribosomal machinery that makes proteins.

From Science Daily

Diagnostic tests checked the dried blood spots for the presence, classification and densities of Plasmodium ribosomal RNA, which helps produce parasite proteins.

From Science Daily

The recovered transcriptomes were of such good quality that it was possible to identify muscle- and skin-specific protein coding RNAs, and led to the annotation of missing ribosomal RNA and microRNA genes, the later following MirGeneDB recommendations.

From Science Daily

But to make the three much longer ribosomal RNA fragments in mirror-image form they needed a molecular machine that could crank them out—a polymerase enzyme.

From Science Magazine