base pair

noun

Genetics.

1. any of the pairs of the hydrogen-bonded purine and pyrimidine bases that form the links between the sugar-phosphate backbones of nucleic acid molecules: the pairs are adenine and thymine in DNA, adenine and uracil in RNA, and guanine and cytosine in both DNA and RNA.

base pair

1. Any of the pairs of nucleotides connecting the complementary strands of a molecule of DNA or RNA and consisting of a purine linked to a pyrimidine by hydrogen bonds. The base pairs are adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine in DNA, and adenine-uracil and guanine-cytosine in RNA or in hybrid DNA-RNA pairing. Base pairs may be thought of as the rungs of the DNA ladder.

Word History and Origins

Origin of base pair¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Scientists have long known that genome size -- the total number of DNA base pairs containing an organism's genetic instructions -- can vary widely between species, even among those with similar complexity.

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Many of these loops allow genes to interact with distant regulatory regions -- sometimes millions of base pairs apart -- while others form during mitosis to pack chromosomes tightly.

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Results showed that those taking vitamin D maintained their telomeres by 140 base pairs compared with the placebo group.

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Nearly all modern humans carry a version of the NOVA1 gene that differs by a single DNA base pair from the version found in Neanderthals.

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T. oblanceolata displaces the previous genome record holder, a modestly sized flowering plant called Paris japonica that has 149 billion base pairs.

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