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The nucleic acid notation currently in use was first formalized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in 1970. [1] This universally accepted notation uses the Roman characters G, C, A, and T, to represent the four nucleotides commonly found in deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA).
This nucleotide contains the five-carbon sugar deoxyribose (at center), a nucleobase called adenine (upper right), and one phosphate group (left). The deoxyribose sugar joined only to the nitrogenous base forms a Deoxyribonucleoside called deoxyadenosine, whereas the whole structure along with the phosphate group is a nucleotide, a constituent of DNA with the name deoxyadenosine monophosphate.
The viral polymerase incorporates these compounds with non-canonical bases. These compounds are activated in the cells by being converted into nucleotides; they are administered as nucleosides as charged nucleotides cannot easily cross cell membranes. [citation needed] At least one set of new base pairs has been announced as of May 2014. [15]
The name "uracil" was coined in 1885 by the German chemist Robert Behrend, who was attempting to synthesize derivatives of uric acid. [3] Originally discovered in 1900 by Alberto Ascoli , it was isolated by hydrolysis of yeast nuclein ; [ 4 ] it was also found in bovine thymus and spleen , herring sperm , and wheat germ . [ 5 ]
The term nucleic acid is the overall name for DNA and RNA, members of a family of biopolymers, [13] and is a type of polynucleotide. Nucleic acids were named for their initial discovery within the nucleus , and for the presence of phosphate groups (related to phosphoric acid). [ 14 ]
Guanine (/ ˈ ɡ w ɑː n iː n / ⓘ) (symbol G or Gua) is one of the four main nucleotide bases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, the others being adenine, cytosine, and thymine (uracil in RNA).
Nucleosides are glycosylamines that can be thought of as nucleotides without a phosphate group.A nucleoside consists simply of a nucleobase (also termed a nitrogenous base) and a five-carbon sugar (ribose or 2'-deoxyribose) whereas a nucleotide is composed of a nucleobase, a five-carbon sugar, and one or more phosphate groups.
As its alternate name (5-methyluracil) suggests, thymine may be derived by methylation of uracil at the 5th carbon. In RNA, thymine is replaced with uracil in most cases. In DNA, thymine (T) binds to adenine (A) via two hydrogen bonds, thereby stabilizing the nucleic acid structures.