Nucleic Acid

Definition: Nucleic Acid

Nucleic Acid

Noun

1. Any of various macromolecules that are vital constituents of all living cells.

Specialty Definitions: Nucleic Acid

Domain	Definitions
Medicine	Either of two types of macromolecule (DNA or RNA) formed by polymerization of nucleotides. Nucleic acids are found in all living cells and contain the information (genetic code) for the transfer of genetic information from one generation to the next, as well as for the expression of this information through protein synthesis. Source: European Union. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Nucleic acid

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The nucleic acids, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), are one of the basic classes of macromolecules studied in biochemistry.

Highly simplified diagram of a double-stranded nucleic acid. Yellow circles represent phosphate; green circles represent pentose; red circles represent nitrogenous bases. Solid lines represent covalent bonds; dashed lines represent hydrogen bonds.

Nucleic acid, so called because of its prevalence in cellular nuclei, is the generic name of family of biopolymers. The monomers are called nucleotides, and each consists of three components: a nitrogenous heterocyclic base (either a purine or a pyrimidine), a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group. Different nucleic acid types differ in the specific sugar found in their chain (e.g. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid contains 2'-deoxyriboses).

The sugars and phosphates in nucleic acids are connected to each other in an alternating chain through shared oxygens (forming a phosphodiester functional group). Using the conventional nomenclature, the carbons to which the phosphate groups are attached are the 3' and the 5' carbons. The bases are pendant from a glycosidic linkage to the 1' carbon of the pentose ring.

Nucleic acids may be single-stranded or double-stranded. A double-stranded nucleic acid consists of two single-stranded nucleic acids hydrogen-bonded together. RNA is usually single-stranded, but any given strand is likely to fold back upon itself to form double-helical regions. DNA is usually double-stranded, though some viruses have single-stranded DNA as their genome.

Nucleic acids are primarily biology's means of storing and transmitting genetic information, though RNA is also capable of acting as an enzyme.

Crosswords: Nucleic Acid

English words defined with "nucleic acid": capsid ♦ deoxyribonucleic acid, desoxyribonucleic acid, DNA ♦ nucleoprotein, nucleoside ♦ prion ♦ ribonucleic acid, RNA ♦ virino, virion. (references)

Specialty definitions using "nucleic acid": 6-Mercaptopurine ♦ agarose gel, AT Rich Sequence ♦ Base Composition, Biolistics ♦ Cosmids ♦ dideoxy sequencing, DNA Viruses ♦ GC Rich Sequence, Genes, myc, Genes, Viral ♦ helical viruses, hierro en T, HIV-2 ♦ In Situ Hybridization, in vitro-packaging ♦ modern biotechnology ♦ Nuclease Protection Assays, Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Nucleic Acid Denaturation, Nucleic Acid Hybridization, Nucleic Acid Precursors, nucleic acid probe, Nucleic Acid Renaturation, Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors, Nucleocapsid ♦ Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Oligonucleotide Probes ♦ Prions, Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc, Purines, Pyrimidines ♦ rDNA engineered organism, rDNA organism, r-DNA organism, Reassortant Viruses, recombinant DNA engineered organism, recombinant DNA organism, Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid, Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid, replicative form, RF DNA ♦ Sanger method, Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid, Spermidine ♦ Vaccines, Inactivated, viral coat, Viral Core Proteins ♦ Zalcitabine. (references)

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Commercial Usage: Nucleic Acid

Domain	Title
Books	Computers and DNA: The Proceedings of the Interface Between Computation Science and Nucleic Acid Sequencing Workshop, Held December 12 to 16, 1988 I (Proceedings Volume in the Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of comPlexity, V. 7.) (reference) Frontiers in Nucleic Acid Chemistry (reference) Methods in Enzymology: Molecular Evolution: Computer Analysis of Protein and Nucleic Acid Sequences (reference) Nucleic Acid Geometry and Dynamics (reference) Progress in Nucleic Acid Research and Molecular Biology (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Nucleic Acid

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		Hybrid nucleic acids can be formed by nucleic acid hybridization of DNA and RNA molecules. (references)
		Another method for amplifying the nucleic acid portion of rabies virus uses biochemical methods. (references)
		Pneumocystis carinii is now considered a fungus, based on nucleic acid and biochemical analysis. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Expressions: Nucleic Acid

Expressions using "nucleic acid": Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ♦ Nucleic Acid Conformation ♦ Nucleic Acid Denaturation ♦ Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes ♦ Nucleic Acid Hybridization ♦ Nucleic Acid Precursors ♦ nucleic acid probe ♦ Nucleic Acid Probes ♦ Nucleic Acid Renaturation ♦ Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Nucleic Acid

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day
nucleic acid	57
nucleic acid research	40
peptide nucleic acid	6
nucleic acid purification	5
nucleic acid testing	5
nucleic acid hybridization	5
nucleic acid res	4
nucleic acid structure	3
nucleic acid sequence based amplification	2
nucleic acid nucleotide and nucleosides	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Nucleic Acid

Language		Translations for "nucleic acid"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Danish		nukleinsyre. (various references)

Dutch		nucleïnezuur. (various references)

Finnish		nukleiinihappo. (various references)

French		acide nucléique. (various references)

German		nukleinsäure, Nucleinsäure. (various references)

Greek		νουκλεϊκό οξύ, νουκλεϊνικό οξύ, πυρηνικό οξύ. (various references)

Hungarian		nukleidsav. (various references)

Italian		acido nucleico. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		� �酸 . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		かくさ�" (diffusion, scattering). (various references)

Pig Latin		ucleicnay aciday

Portuguese		ácido nucleico. (various references)

Spanish		ácido nucleico. (various references)

Swedish		nukleinsyra. (various references)

Thai		กร�"นิวคลีอิก. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Misspellings: Nucleic Acid

Misspellings
	"Nucleic Acid" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: nuclein acid. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Anagrams: Nucleic Acid

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-c-c-c-d-e-i-i-l-n-u"
	-2 letters: euclidian.
	-3 letters: alcidine, calcined, culicine, dulcinea, duncical, nuclidic.
	-4 letters: accidie, aclinic, aliunde, caducei, calcine, cauline, culicid, icicled, include, incudal, inlaced, nuclide, unideal, unlaced.
	-5 letters: acidic, acinic, aculei, alined, audile, calcic, cancel, candle, caudle, cedula, celiac, cicale, cilice, clinic, cuneal, denial, icicle, induce, inlace, inlaid, lacune, lanced, launce, leucin, nailed, nuclei, unciae, uncial, unclad, unlace.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.