uracil, a colourless, crystalline organic compound of the pyrimidine family that occurs as a component of ribonucleic acid (RNA), a molecule involved in the transmission of hereditary characteristics. The RNA molecule consists of a sequence of nucleotides, each containing a five-carbon sugar (ribose), a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. Uracil is one of four nitrogenous bases found in the RNA molecule: uracil and cytosine (derived from pyrimidine) and adenine and guanine (derived from purine). Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) also contains each of these nitrogenous bases, except that thymine is substituted for uracil. During the synthesis of an RNA strand from a DNA template (transcription), uracil pairs only with adenine, and guanine pairs only with cytosine.
Uracil is also a component of several coenzymes that act in conjunction with enzymes in several processes of carbohydrate metabolism.