base pair - one of the pairs of chemical bases joined by hydrogen bonds that connect the complementary strands of a DNA molecule or of an RNA molecule that has two strands; the base pairs are adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine in DNA and adenine with uracil and guanine with cytosine in RNA

adenosine monophosphate, adenylic acid, AMP - a nucleotide found in muscle cells and important in metabolism; reversibly convertible to ADP and ATP

adenosine diphosphate, ADP - an ester of adenosine that is converted to ATP for energy storage

adenosine triphosphate, ATP - a nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue; the major source of energy for cellular reactions

deoxyadenosine monophosphate, A - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose)

deoxycytidine monophosphate, C - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose)

deoxyguanosine monophosphate, G - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose)

deoxythymidine monophosphate, T - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose)

ester - formed by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water

muton - the smallest unit of DNA where a mutation can occur

U, uracil - a nitrogen-containing base found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine