(noun. /NOO-klee-o-tide/)
by Whitney Bell
What does it mean?
Nucleotides are the basic structural units of a nucleic acid, like DNA or RNA. Each nucleotide is composed of three pieces: a phosphate group, a sugar, and a nitrogenous (nitrogen-containing) base (adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine, or uracil).
How do I use it in a sentence?
The human genome is composed of paired combinations of nucleotides.
Etymology: From the German nucleotid that was created from the Latin nucleus (meaning kernel)
Related terms:
nucleic acid
nucleus
DNA
RNA
nitrogenous base
base pair
nucleoside
Fields of study in which this word is commonly used:
biology
biochemistry
