Alanine
/ˈæləniːn/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A nonessential amino acid 2-aminopropanoic acid found in most animal proteins uncountable
"Potatoes can be a good source of alanine."
- 2 a crystalline amino acid that occurs in many proteins wordnet
- 3 A specific residue, molecule, or isomer of this amino acid countable
"Two alanines are replaced by prolines."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Potatoes can be a good source of alanine."
Etymology
From aldehyde + -anine, in reference to aldehyde, with the infix -an- for ease of pronunciation, when the German chemist Adolph Strecker first synthesized alanine in 1850 by mixing acetaldehyde (then just known as aldehyde) with ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrochloric acid.