cytosine
2
5.7
- noun
- /ˈsaɪtəˌsiːn/
- Specialized
:
citosina
- Genes are identified by the letters AGTC, representing the base chemical nucleotide pairings of Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, and Cytosine.
- cytosine and guanine
Examples
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DNA is made of four organic bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine, or AGC and T.
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Methylation, or the attachment of a methyl group to DNA at regions where cytosine and guanine are paired ("CpG sites"), has tended to receive the most attention in epigenetic research so far.
Academic text (2012) -
So methylation on cytosine would look like this.
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So these are the bases, thymine, cytosine and uracil, OK.
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Cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thymine.
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Bases drifted by: guanine, cytosine, adenine.
Fiction book (1994) -
"Notice the sequence is made up of four basic compounds: adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine."
Fiction book (1990) -
No, the methylation markers are placed down on the cytosine nucleotide using DNA methyl transferase.
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The test seeks to target a biochemical change called DNA methylation, "which occurs when a chemical group called methyl attaches itself to cytosine, one of the four nucleotides or base building blocks of DNA" (Science and Children, 2009, p. 9).
Academic text (2011) -
In DNA, the base cytosine pairs with guanine to form the genetic code.
Synonyms
2
4.6
A DNA and RNA base, cytosine, that pairs with guanine
Surface Forms
Morphology
cytosine = cyto + ine
Although built from the combining form 'cyto-' (cell) and the chemical suffix '-ine', the term is a specialised biochemical name whose parts do not help an average B1 learner infer the meaning.
Etymology
The word cytosine comes from the Greek root cyto- from kytos meaning 'cell' or 'container', plus the chemical ending -ine. So cytosine is like a 'cell chemical', which helps explain why it is a base found in the DNA and RNA inside cells.