Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun biochemistry A naturally-occurring
amino acid , present in severalenzymes , whose structure is that ofcysteine but with thesulfur atom replaced by one ofselenium
Etymologies
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Examples
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So it will need to be consistent not with merely the ribosome and the bacterial flagella, but also the octopus's eye, the panda's thumb, and the jerry-rigged way that selenocysteine is kluged into the genetic code.
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The awkward way in which selenocysteine is kluged into the genetic code (which is not unique to Tetrahymena; we do it too), sharing a termination codon instead of having one to itself seems like a good example of a molecular "panda's thumb," reflecting the inherent difficulty of a late addition to the frozen accident of the genetic code.
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The third termination codon, UGA, does signal for termination, but can also be used in a context-dependent manner (depending on RNA structure) to code the amino acid, selenocysteine.
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Although all forms of selenium described above are fairly well absorbed by the body, some studies show a slight edge to selenomethionine over selenocysteine, selenocysteine over sodium selenate, and sodium selenate over sodium selenite.
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The most widely-available are selenomethionine and selenocysteine.
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Instead, they possess a linked thioredoxin-glutathione system with a selenocysteine-containing enzyme thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR) as the single redox hub that controls the overall redox homeostasis.
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Specific gene sets associated with the central metabolism of C. aurimucosum apparently provide enhanced metabolic flexibility and adaptability in aerobic, anaerobic and low-pH environments, including gene clusters for the uptake and degradation of aromatic amines, L-histidine and L-tartrate as well as a gene region for the formation of selenocysteine and its incorporation into formate dehydrogenase.
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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has said there is insufficient data to back the safety of the selemium form, Se-methyl-L-selenocysteine (Semethylselenocysteine), in food supplements.
NutraIngredients RSS 2009
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