A reaction of uracil

Abstract

Uracil and the related compounds, thmine and cytosine occur in nature as components of nucleoproteins. Nucleoproteins are compounds of proteins with nucleic acids. They are important constituents of the cell nucleus and are essential for life and cell activity. Free pyrimidines are rarely if' ever found in nature, but as constituents of' nucleic acids they are widely distributed e.g. in animal pancreas, spleen, liver, brain, ovaries, sperm, etc.; and also in germinated wheat, yeast, and tuberculosis bacilli. On hydrolytic degradation these nucleic acids yield uracil, thymine, and cytosine, together with other pyrimidine and purine compounds. Uracil is therefore of no small biological importance, and a quick and accurate method of' estimating uracil could well lead to the opening up of' new fields in biochemical research such as the nature of nitrogen metabolism in plants.