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to methylate

to methylate

1 8.1
To add a tiny chemical group made of one carbon and three hydrogen atoms to a molecule
  • verb
  • /ˈmɛθəˌleɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : metilar
  • Scientists often methylate compounds to enhance their chemical properties.
  • differentially methylated
  • methylated loci
  • top differentially methylated

So if you have that, it means that you cannot methylate breakdown certain types of B vitamins.

Examples

  • The enzyme can methylate several substrates during the metabolic process.

  • In the vehicle group, > 90% of these CpGs were methylated, and the methylation pattern did not change during development, from weeks 3 to 10 (Figure 4B, top).

    Academic text (2014)
  • So if you have that, it means that you cannot methylate breakdown certain types of B vitamins.

  • But there is a a methylase in there that's also able to methylate those sequences.

  • 23 While various processes can methylate mercury, USGS reports that "scientists generally agree that methylation by sulfate-reducing bacteria is most important."

    Academic text (2002)
  • Rosen recently developed a transgenic rice plant that can methylate inorganic arsenic into less toxic organic forms.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The INS transcription start site was not differentially methylated in the mammary gland.

    Blog text (26)
  • We identified three loci that were significantly differentially methylated in relation to blood arsenic concentration based on the Bonferroni threshold p < 1 x 10-7, as shown in Figure 1.

    Academic text (2015)
  • In the SV tissues from rats, a methylation-sensitive restriction assay showed that seven potential methylation sites were largely methylated (Kandala et al. 1985).

    Academic text (2014)
  • In biological systems, cells methylate DNA to regulate gene expression.

Surface Forms

methylate infinitive
methylated past
methylated past participle
methylating present participle
methylates third person singular

Morphology

methylate = methyl (transparent) = methyl + ate

The verb is a regular technical derivation: 'methyl' + the verb-forming suffix '-ate' meaning to add or form a methyl group.

Etymology

Methylate comes from the chemical part methyl, the same root you see in methane, and the ending -ate, which turns a word into a verb meaning 'to make' or 'to add'. So to methylate is to 'add a methyl group' — like putting a tiny chemical tag onto a molecule to change how it behaves.