Pyrimidines and purines are two different types of nitrogenous bases that are found in the DNA and RNA of living organisms.
Pyrimidines are a class of nitrogenous bases that are made up of a single ring structure. The three main pyrimidines found in DNA and RNA are cytosine (C), thymine (T), and uracil (U). Cytosine is found in both DNA and RNA, while thymine is found only in DNA and uracil is found only in RNA.
Purines, on the other hand, are a class of nitrogenous bases that are made up of a double ring structure. The two main purines found in DNA and RNA are adenine (A) and guanine (G). Adenine and guanine are both found in both DNA and RNA.
The main difference between pyrimidines and purines is the number of rings in their structure. Pyrimidines have only one ring while purines have two rings. This difference affects how these bases pair with each other during the process of DNA replication and transcription. Specifically, purines always pair with pyrimidines, with adenine pairing with thymine (in DNA) or uracil (in RNA) and guanine pairing with cytosine.
Difference between pyrimidine and purine
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