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Nucleotide

Nucleotide codes
Code Equivalence Complement
A A T or U
C C G
G G C
T or U T A
M A or C K
R A or G Y
W A or T W
S C or G S
Y C or T R
K G or T M
V A or C or G B
H A or C or T D
D A or G or T H
B C or G or T V
X or N A or C or G or T X

A nucleotide is a monomer or the structural unit of nucleotide chains forming nucleic acids as RNA and DNA. A nucleotide consists of a heterocyclic nucleobase, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate or polyphosphate group. Nucleotides also play important roles in cellular energy transport and transformations (notably ATP and NAD+/NADH), and in enzyme regulation (see for example, protein kinase).

The nucleobase can be a purines or pyrimidines, the sugar can be deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA, and the phosphate chain can be a monophosphate, diphosphate, or triphosphate. A nucleotide that lacks the phosphate group is called nucleoside.

Contents

Nomenclature

Nucleotide names are abbreviated into standard four-letter codes. The first letter is lower case and indicates whether the nucleotide in question is a ribonucleotide (r) or deoxyribonucleotide (d). The second letter indicates the nucleobase:

G: Guanine
A: Adenine
T: Thymine
C: Cytosine
U: Uracil not present in DNA, but takes the place of Thymine in RNA

The third and fourth letters indicate the length of the attached phosphate chain (Mono-, Di-, Tri-) and the presence of a phosphate (P).

For example, deoxy-cytosine-triphosphate is abbreviated as dCTP.

Chemical structures

Nucleotides


Adenosine monophosphate
AMP

Adenosine diphosphate
ADP

Adenosine triphosphate
ATP

Guanosine monophosphate
GMP

Guanosine diphosphate
GDP

Guanosine triphosphate
GTP

Thymidine monophosphate
TMP

Thymidine diphosphate
TDP

Thymidine triphosphate
TTP

Uridine monophosphate
UMP

Uridine diphosphate
UDP

Uridine triphosphate
UTP

Cytidine monophosphate
CMP

Cytidine diphosphate
CDP

Cytidine triphosphate
CTP

Deoxynucleotides


Deoxyadenosine monophosphate
dAMP

Deoxyadenosine diphosphate
dADP

Deoxyadenosine triphosphate
dATP

Deoxyguanosine monophosphate
dGMP

Deoxyguanosine diphosphate
dGDP

Deoxyguanosine triphosphate
dGTP

Deoxythymidine monophosphate
dTMP

Deoxythymidine diphosphate
dTDP

Deoxythymidine triphosphate
dTTP

Deoxyuridine monophosphate
dUMP

Deoxyuridine diphosphate
dUDP

Deoxyuridine triphosphate
dUTP

Deoxycytidine monophosphate
dCMP

Deoxycytidine diphosphate
dCDP

Deoxycytidine triphosphate
dCTP

See also

External links


Last updated: 06-01-2005 22:47:57
Last updated: 08-16-2005 17:50:30