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Uracil (Ura)

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

C4H4N2O2. M.W. 112.09. Uracil is one of the four nucleic acid bases found in RNA. In double-stranded RNA, it pairs with adenine, via two hydrogen bonds in Watson-Crick base pairing. Uracil can be formed by deamination of cytosine. The half-life of uracil in water is 12 years at 100 °C and 3.8 × 108 years at 0 °C at pH 7. It has a UV absorption maximum at 260 nm in neutral solution. It has been found in the Murchison meteorite and has been synthesized in HCN polymerizations and Fischer-Tropsch-type reactions and by the action of electric discharges and irradiations of high-energy protons on simple gas mixtures such as CO–N2–H2O.

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  1. Ribomic Inc, 3-16-13 Shirokanedai Usuibiru, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, 108-0071, Tokyo, Japan

    Shin Miyakawa

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  1. Shin Miyakawa
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Correspondence to Shin Miyakawa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Miyakawa, S. (2014). Uracil (Ura). In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1631-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1631-3

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

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  1. Latest

    Uracil (Ura)
    Published:
    16 March 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1631-4

  2. Original

    Uracil (Ura)
    Published:
    16 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1631-3

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