ribose Biochem.
(ˈraɪbəʊz, -s)
[a. G. ribose, f. rib-onsäure (both E. Fischer 1891, in Ber. d. Deut. Chem. Ges. XXIV. 4215), f. ribon (formed arbitrarily by rearrangement of some of the letters of arabinose, name of the related sugar from which Fischer prepared ribose) + säure acid: see -ose2.]
1. An aldopentose sugar, the lævorotatory (d-) isomer of which occurs widely in nature as a constituent of many nucleosides and several vitamins and enzymes.
| 1892 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LXII. i. 439 The precipitate..contains the chief portion of the ribose. 1927 [see pentose]. 1937 Nature 30 Oct. 745/2 Phosphopyridine nucleotides..consist of a pyridine derivative, namely, nicotine acid amide, adenine, two molecules of a sugar, ribose, together with..phosphoric acid. 1938 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) II. 287/1 Ribose is also a component of lactoflavin. 1948 W. Pigman Chem. of Carbohydrates iii. 104 The universal occurrence of d-ribose in all living cells should make this sugar of the greatest interest to biochemists and biologists. 1960 New Biol. XXXI. 40 Another type of nucleic acid containing a different sugar, ribose, and named ribonucleic acid or RNA. 1970 Ambrose & Easty Cell Biol. vii. 247 The pentose sugar ribose is formed from glucose by an oxidative pathway known as the hexose monophosphate shunt. |
2. attrib. or as prefix = ribo-; ribose nucleic, riboseˈnucleic acid = ribonucleic acid; also ribose nucleoprotein, ribose nucleotide, etc.
| 1920 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. XLIII. 329 Referring only to the ribose nucleotides, the observations are as follows. 1929 Ibid. LXXXI. 712 The sugar was obtained in the same manner as in the case of the ribose nucleoside. 1942 Ibid. CXLIV. 589, 5 to 6 per cent of the virus is a ribosenucleic acid. 1943 Nature 11 Dec. 693/1 Ribose nucleic acid is not restricted to plant tissues. 1944 Ibid. 10 June 711/2 The chloroplasts..contain plasmonucleoproteins (ribose nucleoproteins). 1957 New Biol. XXIII. 84 Ribonuclease, an enzyme that destroys ribose nucleic acid. 1960 Ibid. XXXI. 16 A different kind of nucleic acid (RNA, ribosenucleic acid, which differs from DNA in having a slightly different pentose sugar). Ibid. 17 RNA is found in living material closely combined with protein, as ribosenucleoprotein. |