Meaning & use
nucleotide
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Meaning
nouncountabletechnicalbiologychemistry
A basic building block of DNA and RNA, made of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base.
Grammar: Countable: one nucleotide, many nucleotides. Often used in the plural.
Patterns
- a nucleotide sequence
- nucleotides are linked together
- the order of nucleotides
DNA is a long chain of nucleotides, each containing one of four bases.
A single change in a nucleotide can alter the protein that a gene produces.
Scientists compared the nucleotide sequences of the two species to see how closely related they are.
Word forms
| plural | nucleotides |
|---|
Common combinations
- nucleotide sequence
- The nucleotide sequence of the gene was determined in the lab.
- a chain of nucleotides
- RNA is a single chain of nucleotides.
- nucleotide base
- Each nucleotide base pairs with a specific partner.
- single nucleotide change
- A single nucleotide change can cause a genetic disorder.
Synonyms and how they differ
- base
- In informal lab talk, 'base' often means just the nitrogen base part of a nucleotide, not the whole molecule.
Word family
- nucleic acid noun
- A large molecule such as DNA or RNA, made of many nucleotides.
- nucleoside noun
- A nucleotide without the phosphate group.
Commonly confused: nucleotide or nucleoside? nucleotide or nucleolus?
nucleotide vs nucleoside
A nucleoside has a sugar and a base but no phosphate; a nucleotide has all three parts.
nucleotide vs nucleolus
Nucleolus is a structure inside the nucleus; nucleotide is a chemical unit of DNA and RNA.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'nucleotide' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option B correctly describes the three parts of a nucleotide. Option A confuses it with nucleolus; option C describes the nucleolus's job; option D wrongly says the nucleus is made of nucleotides (it contains DNA, which is made of nucleotides).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nucleotide”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.