Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Measurement of mRNA Decay Rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Using rpb1-1 Strains
Published on: December 13, 2014
Decay Pathways of Thymine Revisited
Bert M Pilles1, Benjamin Maerz1, Jinquan Chen2
1Lehrstuhl für BioMolekulare Optik, Fakultät für Physik and Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science CIPSM , Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Oettingenstrasse 67 , München 80538 , Germany.
Researchers studied excited states of thymine (Thy) and thymidine 5'-monophosphate (TMP). An unidentified UV-induced species was observed, decaying in 300 ps for Thy and 1 ns for TMP.
Area of Science:
- Photochemistry
- Molecular Spectroscopy
- Quantum Chemistry
Background:
- Excited state decay pathways are crucial for understanding molecular photophysics.
- Thymine and its derivatives are fundamental components of DNA.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the decay dynamics of electronically excited thymine (Thy) and thymidine 5"-monophosphate (TMP).
- To identify and characterize a novel UV-induced species.
- To elucidate the role of excited states in thymine photochemistry.
Main Methods:
- Time-resolved UV/Vis spectroscopy
- Time-resolved IR spectroscopy
- Deuterium oxide (D2O) solvent studies
- Quantum chemical calculations
Main Results:
- Observed ultrafast internal conversion to the ground state.
- Identified a new UV-induced species with distinct decay kinetics (300 ps for Thy, 1 ns for TMP in D2O).
- This species coexists with the triplet state and has a high quantum yield (~10%).
Conclusions:
- The study reveals a previously uncharacterized excited state species in thymine and TMP photochemistry.
- Experimental findings are supported by quantum chemical calculations of singlet and triplet excited states.
- Understanding these decay pathways is vital for DNA photostability and photoprotection.
Related Concept Videos
Nonsense-mediated mRNA Decay
Usually, Upf3 binds to an Exon Junction Complex (EJC) at mRNA splice sites. If a ribosome fully translates the mRNA,...
Nonsense-mediated mRNA Decay
Radioactive Decay and Radiometric Dating
Interference and Decay
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
Resting Potential Decay
At rest, the K+ is the main ion that moves across the membrane...
C4 Pathway and CAM
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...

