|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
thymine
thymine , organic base of the pyrimidine family. Thymine was the first pyrimidine to be purified from a natural source, having been isolated from calf thymus and beef spleen in 1893–4. The accepted structure of the thymine molecule was published in 1900; this structure was confirmed when several investigators reported the synthesis of the compound during the period 1901 to 1910. Combined with the sugar deoxyribose in a glycosidic linkage, thymine forms a derivative called thymidine (a nucleoside), which in turn can be phosphorylated with from one to three phosphoric acid groups, yielding respectively the three nucleotides TMP (thymidine monophosphate), TDP (thymidine diphosphate), and TTP (thymidine triphosphate). The analogous nucleosides and nucleotides formed from thymine and ribose occur only very rarely in living systems; such is not the case with the other pyrimidines. The nucleotide derivatives of thymine do not exhibit as much activity as coenzymes , although TTP can readily donate one of its phosphate groups to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to form adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an extremely important intermediate in the transfer of chemical energy in living systems. Since the thymine nucleotides contain only deoxyribose and not ribose, TTP is the source of thymidine only in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); there is no thymine in ribonucleic acid (RNA). Thymidine is significant because of its involvement in the biosynthesis of DNA and in the preservation and transfer of genetic information. See nucleic acid . |
|
|
Cite this article
"thymine." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "thymine." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-thymine.html "thymine." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-thymine.html |
|
thymine
thy·mine / ˈ[unvoicedth]īˌmēn; -min/ • n. Biochem. a compound, C5H6N2O2, that is one of the four constituent bases of nucleic acids. A pyrimidine derivative, it is paired with adenine in double-stranded DNA. |
|
|
Cite this article
"thymine." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "thymine." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-thymine.html "thymine." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-thymine.html |
|
thymine
thymine (th'y-meen) n. one of the nitrogen-containing bases (see pyrimidine) occurring in the nucleic acid DNA.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"thymine." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "thymine." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-thymine.html "thymine." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-thymine.html |
|
thymine
thymine A pyrimidine derivative and one of the major component bases of nucleotides and the nucleic acid DNA.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"thymine." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "thymine." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-thymine.html "thymine." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-thymine.html |
|
thymine
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-thymine.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-thymine.html |
|
thymine
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-thymine.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-thymine.html |
|
thymine
thymine A pyrimidine base that occurs in DNA.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-thymine.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "thymine." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-thymine.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
