arabinose

[ uh-rab-uh-nohs, ar-uh-buh- ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, C 5 H 10 O 5 , obtained from plant gums or made synthetically from glucose, used chiefly as a culture medium in bacteriology.

arabinose

/ əˈræbɪˌnəʊz; -ˌnəʊs /

noun

1. a pentose sugar in plant gums, esp of cedars and pines. It is used as a culture medium in bacteriology. Formula: C 5 H 10 O 5

Other Words From

• a·rab·i·nos·ic [uh, -rab-, uh, -, nos, -ik, ar-, uh, -b, uh, -], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of arabinose¹

1880–85; arabin the soluble essence of certain gums ( (gum) arab(ic) ) + -in ² ) + -ose ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of arabinose¹

C19: from arabin (from ( gum ) arab ( ic ) + -in ) + -ose ²

Example Sentences

This suggests that some change occurs in the bacterial community, in the absence of B. cellulosilyticus, that enables arabinose from pea fibre to be degraded as much as it would be if all 15 bacterial strains were present.

From Nature

When both B. ovatus and B. cellulosilyticus were absent from the bacterial populations, arabinoxylan-coated beads retained their original levels of arabinose, revealing that none of the remaining 13 bacterial strains took advantage of arabinoxylan availability.

From Nature

When mice that had been colonized only with B. cellulosilyticus or Bacteroides vulgatus were given food particles coated with pea fibre, the levels of arabinose in the recovered beads were lower than the original levels, demonstrating that both of these bacterial species had metabolized this molecule in vivo.

From Nature

The level of degradation of arabinose in the arabinan-rich pea-fibre beads was then compared, and was found to be the same in both cases.

From Nature

Both approaches pointed to a gene for an enzyme that makes arabinose, a sugar found primarily in the plant cell wall, Willis reported.

From Science Magazine