Cytosine (Noun)
Meaning
A base found in DNA and RNA and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with guanine.
Classification
Nouns denoting substances.
Examples
- Cytosine is one of the four nucleotide bases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, along with adenine, guanine, and thymine in DNA and uracil in RNA.
- Every molecule of cytosine becomes attached to a sugar molecule in a nucleoside, and a molecule of phosphate to form a nucleotide.
- In DNA, the standard base pairing rule is that cytosine, C, always pairs with guanine, G, through three hydrogen bonds.
- The molecular formula of the cytosine molecule is C4H5N3O, a pyrimidine with an amine group at position 4.
- This pyrimidine base, cytosine, is capable of self-association and of interaction with guanine or any of the nucleosides under certain conditions.