Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Cytosine Flag, Nucleotide C Flag


The flag for cytosine has cyan field with a black hexagon in the center.  The black hexagon represents the basic structural ring of a pyrimidine.  Cyan was chosen as the colour for Cytosine since both words (at least in English) start with 'Cy.' In the black area by the hoist are six dots that represent the atoms involved with the hydrogen bonding of this nucleotide.  The three dots closer to the cyan field represent the three hydrogen bonding atoms of Cytosine.  White represents hydrogen, blue is nitrogen, and red is oxygen.  Consequently the three dots closer to the hoist represent oxygen and two hydrogens.

Cytosine was named by Albrecht Kossel and Albert Neumann in 1894.  If you forgot your biology, Cytosine bonds with Guanine.  The unique aspect of Cytosine is that is has all three types of hydrogen bonding atoms of DNA: white, blue, and red — hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen.


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