ribose

American  

[rahy-bohs] / ˈraɪ boʊs /

noun

Biochemistry.

1. a white, crystalline, water-soluble, slightly sweet solid, C 5 H 1 0 O 5 , a pentose sugar obtained by the hydrolysis of RNA.

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ribose British  

/ ˈraɪbəʊz, -bəʊs /

noun

1. biochem a pentose sugar that is an isomeric form of arabinose and that occurs in RNA and riboflavin. Formula: CH 2 OH(CHOH) 3 CHO

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ribose Scientific  

/ rī′bōs′ /

1. A pentose sugar with a furanose structure that occurs as a component of riboflavin and RNA. Chemical formula: C ₅ H ₁₀ O ₅ .

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Etymology

Origin of ribose

1890–95; < German Ribose, earlier Ribonsäure, equivalent to Ribon (from Arabinose arabinose, by arbitrary rearrangement and shortening) + Säure acid

Compare meaning

How does ribose compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• ribose vs. deoxyribose

Example Sentences

Glavin’s team will also search for even more complex organic molecules, such as peptides—short segments of proteins—and sugars, like ribose, that are used by life.

From Science Magazine

Another flaw in the RNA world idea has been the difficulty of making ribose in the conditions that probably existed on the early Earth—and to then connect it to a base.

From Scientific American

“It is remarkable that a molecule as fragile as ribose could be detected in such ancient material,” Jason Dworkin, one of the study's co-authors, pointed out.

From Fox News

The next major problem Carell wants to tackle is what reactions could have formed the sugar ribose, which needs to link to nucleobases before RNA can form.

From Nature

The University of New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratory are partnering on a research project studying interactions of boron and ribose in groundwater on Mars.

From Washington Times