What is the definition of a pyrimidine?

What is the definition of a pyrimidine?

Listen to pronunciation. (py-RIH-mih-deen) One of two chemical compounds that cells use to make the building blocks of DNA and RNA. Examples of pyrimidines are cytosine, thymine, and uracil.

What are the three types of pyrimidines?

Two major purines present in nucleotides are adenine (A) and guanine (G), and three major pyrimidines are thymine (T), cytosine (C), and uracil (U).

What are the 4 pyrimidines?

The pyrimidine ring system has wide occurrence in nature as substituted and ring fused compounds and derivatives, including the nucleotides cytosine, thymine and uracil, thiamine (vitamin B1) and alloxan.

What is pyrimidine structure?

C4H4N2Pyrimidine / Formula
pyrimidine, any of a class of organic compounds of the heterocyclic series characterized by a ring structure composed of four carbon atoms and two nitrogen atoms. The simplest member of the family is pyrimidine itself, with molecular formula C4H4N2.

What are the two pyrimidines?

Cytosine and thymine are the two major pyrimidine bases in DNA and base pair (see Watson–Crick Pairing) with guanine and adenine (see Purine Bases), respectively. In RNA, uracil replaces thymine and base pairs with adenine.

Why are pyrimidines called bases?

In DNA, pyrimidines will form hydrogen bonds with another class of nucleotides, known as purines. When these bonds occur, it is referred to as a base pair, and always occurs in complimentary fashion; Cytosine (C) always pairs with the purine Guanine (G), and Thymine (T) always pairs with the purine Adenine (A).

What are the 4 purine bases?

The five-carbon sugar ring and the content of the nitrogenous base between DNA and RNA are slightly different from each other. Four different types of nitrogenous bases are found in DNA: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine (G).

What is purine and its function?

Paired purines and pyrimidines serve as the building blocks for DNA. Purines are also needed to synthesize RNA, which is then used for producing all of the proteins in your cells; RNA, rather than DNA, is the storage depot for genetic information in many viruses.

Is a purine or pyrimidine?

Purines and Pyrimidines are nitrogenous bases that make up the two different kinds of nucleotide bases in DNA and RNA. The two-carbon nitrogen ring bases (adenine and guanine) are purines, while the one-carbon nitrogen ring bases (thymine and cytosine) are pyrimidines.

Why are purines and pyrimidines called bases?

The purine nitrogenous bases are characterized by their single amino group (NH2), at the C6 carbon in adenine and C2 in guanine. Similarly, the simple-ring structure of cytosine, uracil, and thymine is derived of pyrimidine, so those three bases are called the pyrimidine bases.