a large nucleic acid molecule found in the nucleus but mainly in the cytoplasm of a cell where it is associated with microsomes; consists of a linear polymer of nucleotides; it transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm and controls certain chemical processes in the cell; "ribonucleic acid is the genetic material of some viruses"

• messenger RNA, mRNA, template RNA, informational RNA — the template for protein synthesis; the form of RNA that carries information from DNA in the nucleus to the ribosome sites of protein synthesis in the cell
• nuclear RNA, nRNA — ribonucleic acid found in the nucleolus of the cell
• transfer RNA, tRNA, acceptor RNA, soluble RNA — short-chain RNA molecules present in the cell (in at least 20 varieties, each variety capable of combining with a specific amino acid) that attach the correct amino acid to the protein chain that is being synthesized at the ribosome of the cell (according to directions coded in the mRNA)

• nucleic acid — any of various macromolecules that are vital constituents of all living cells

• ribose — a pentose sugar important as a component of ribonucleic acid
• adenine — (biochemistry) purine base found in DNA and RNA; pairs with thymine in DNA and with uracil in RNA
• cytosine — a base found in DNA and RNA and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with guanine
• guanine — a purine base found in DNA and RNA; pairs with cytosine
• uracil, U — a nitrogen-containing base found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine