Uracil

[jimmy p]

I while back (in the distant days when i was in education...I'm a day out of education now!!) we were studying amino acids in chemistry, and I asked my chemistry teacher whether uracil was an amino acid or not. She didnt know but said she would find out, which she didnt, so I am asking the experts now!

"Is uracil an amino acid?" :approve:

[iansmith]

No uracil is a nitrogenous pyrimidine base found in RNA but not DNA. In double-stranded RNA it pairs with adenine. In DNA, uracil is replaced by thymine.

[Monique]

Uracil is a base found in RNA and is derived from pyrimidine, it contains nitrogen but no amino group (NH2) so it's not an amino acid.

[Monique]

YEH! I wanted to answer :grumpy: :tongue2:

[iansmith]

You snooze you lose :biggrin:

[jimmy p]

So it is a fake??? what a clever thing protein synthesis is. That doesnt really make much sense though, what is the point in thymine? Why is uracil better?

[KnowledgeIsPower]

So it is a fake??? what a clever thing protein synthesis is. That doesnt really make much sense though, what is the point in thymine? Why is uracil better?

Uracil isn't 'superior' to Thymine on a whole, but each have their advantages in each situation.
Thymine is present in DNA - the encoded information for synthesis of proteins, while it is replaced by uracil in mRNA/tRNA/rRNA.
While i'm not sure of the reason for it i would expect thymine possibly holds the DNA together in a more stable manner (as it is storage) and uracil holds some advantage in attracting the anticodons carrying amino acids to the ribosomes. Perhaps uracil exhibits a greater electronegativity?
Who knows.., that's merely my uninformed ramblings, perhaps the mentors can clear this up.