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Meaning & use

base pair

noun·Advancedtechnicalbiology

Last updated

UK/ˈbeɪs peə/
US/ˈbeɪs per/

Meaning

  1. nouncountabletechnicalbiology

    A pair of complementary bases on two strands of DNA or RNA that are linked together.

    Grammar: Countable; use 'base pairs' for more than one. Often used after a number: '3,000 base pairs'.

    Patterns

    • a base pair
    • base pairs
    • X base pairs long

    The two strands of DNA are held together by base pairs.

    This gene is about 1,500 base pairs long.

    A mutation can change a single base pair in the sequence.

Word forms

pluralbase pairs

Common combinations

base pair sequence
Scientists compared the base pair sequence of the two samples.
a single base pair
Even a single base pair change can affect how a protein works.
base pair substitution
A base pair substitution may have no effect on the organism.
thousands of base pairs
The human genome contains billions of base pairs.

Synonyms and how they differ

bp
Abbreviation for base pair, often used in scientific writing after a number: '1,200 bp'.

Word family

base noun
One of the chemical units (A, T, C, G, U) that form base pairs.
pair noun
Two things that go together; here, two bases joined together.

Commonly confused: base pair or baseplate?

base pair vs baseplate

A baseplate is a flat support at the bottom of something, not a pair of bases in DNA.

Practice

In DNA, adenine always forms a base pair with which base?

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