adenine

From German Adenin, from Ancient Greek ἀδήν (adḗn, “gland”); surface analysis, aden- +‎ -ine. It was named in 1885 by the German biochemist Albrecht Kossel, in reference to the pancreas (a specific gland) from which Kossel's sample had been extracted.

• IPA^(key): /ˈæ.dəˌniːn/, /ˈæ.dɪˌnɪn/

adenine (countable and uncountable, plural adenines)

1. (biochemistry, genetics) A base, C₅H₅N₅, found in certain glands and tissues, which pairs with thymine in DNA and uracil in RNA.
   • 2002, Nikolai L. Vekshin, Photonics of Biopolymers‎, page 115:

     One of these labels is ethenoadenine, which is obtained by chemical modification of adenine.

   • 2006, David Markie, “1: Markers, Selection, and Media in Yeast Artificial Chromosome Cloning”, in Alasdair MacKenzie, editor, YAC Protocols‎, 2nd edition, page 2:

     There are two genes in the adenine biosynthetic pathway of yeast (ADE1 and ADE2) that, apart from producing an absolute requirement for adenine when mutant, also produce a change in colony color.

   • 2010, Debjani Roy, Rogué Schleyer, “6: Chemical Origin of Life: How do Five HCN Molecules Combine to form Adenine under Prebiotic and Interstellar Conditions”, in Chérif F. Matta, editor, Quantum Biochemistry‎, page 202:

     The HCN pentamer, adenine (a constituent of DNA, RNA and many coenzymes), is one of the most abundant biochemical molecules.

   Hypernyms: nucleobase, purine

   Coordinate terms: cytosine, guanine, thymine, uracil

adenine f pl

1. plural of adenina

• enneadi, neanide