nucleotide

[ noo-klee-uh-tahyd, nyoo- ]

noun

, Biochemistry.

1. any of a group of molecules that, when linked together, form the building blocks of DNA or RNA: composed of a phosphate group, the bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine, and a pentose sugar, in RNA the thymine base being replaced by uracil.

nucleotide

/ ˈnjuːklɪəˌtaɪd /

noun

1. biochem a compound consisting of a nucleoside linked to phosphoric acid. Nucleic acids are made up of long chains (polynucleotides) of such compounds

nucleotide

/ no̅o̅′klē-ə-tīd′ /

1. 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.

Other Words From

• inter·nucle·o·tide adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nucleotide¹

First recorded in 1905–10; alteration of nucleoside

Word History and Origins

Origin of nucleotide¹

C20: from nucleo- + t (added for ease of pronunciation) + -ide

Example Sentences

One way to capture eRNA is to add a nucleotide to cells that halts transcription when incorporated into RNA.

From Science Daily

BoNE allowed the team to establish the cause of the Yorkshire syndrome -- and pinpoint a specific single nucleotide polymorphism that is protective.

From Science Daily

Notably, the increase in activity was specific to increasing concentrations of ATP or histidine; no changes were observed in response to other nucleotide triphosphates or amino acids.

From Science Daily

Trained on mRNA from a handful of species, it was able to decode nucleotide sequences and reveal something new about gene regulation.

From Science Daily

Rather than processing the data using arithmetic operations, it is stored as a sequence of nucleotides -- the chemical building blocks of DNA.

From Science Daily