Definition of Nucleotide

Nucleotide: A subunit of DNA or RNA. To form a DNA or RNA molecule, thousands of nucleotides are joined in a long chain.

Each nucleotide is divided into three parts (with apologies to Caesar):

1. A nitrogenous base (A, G, T, or C in DNA; A, G, U, or C in RNA),
2. A phosphate molecule, and
3. A sugar molecule (deoxyribose in DNA and ribose in RNA).

A DNA oligonucleotide is a short piece of DNA composed of relatively few (oligo-) nucleotide bases.

Drug Medical Dictionary of Terms by Letter

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

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