TERMIUM Plus®

The Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

MEGABASE PAIR [1 record]

Record 1 2012-01-05

English

Subject field(s)
  • Genetics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biotechnology
DEF

Unit of length for DNA fragments that is equal to 1 million nucleotides.

CONT

The size of a piece of DNA is measured in nucleotides (nt), base pairs (bp), kilobases (kb or kbp = 1000 bp) or megabases (Mb or Mbp = 1 000 000 bp). Because DNA is virtually always double-stranded, the distinction between bases and base pairs is often ignored when talking about the size of a piece of DNA. Thus a DNA double helix comprising one million base pairs can be described as either 1 Mbp or 1 Mb – it is not 2 Mb.

CONT

A megabase (Mb) is roughly equal to 1 centiMorgan (cM).

French

Domaine(s)
  • Génétique
  • Biologie moléculaire
  • Biotechnologie
DEF

Unité de longueur pour des fragments d'ADN qui est égal à un million de nucléotides.

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Genética
  • Biología molecular
  • Biotecnología
DEF

Unidad de longitud para fragmentos de DNA equivalente a un millón de nucleótidos y aproximadamente a 1 cM [centimorgan].

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