Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An essential amino acid, C6H14N2O2, obtained by the hydrolysis of proteins and required by the body for optimum growth.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A colorless compound, CH2 (NH2) CH2CH2CH2CH (NH2)COOH, formed by the action of dilute acids or of trypsin on albuminous substances of both vegetable and animal origin. It crystallizes in slender needles and forms salts with both acids and bases. Also called α-ϵ-diaminocapric acid.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biochemistry An essential amino acid C6H14N2O2.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an essential amino acid found in proteins; occurs especially in gelatin and casein

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From lysis in reference to its tendency to participate in catalysis.

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Examples

  • In the late 1980s, they decided that the future of this business was in a form of bioengineering, not creating a new food, but using bacteria with specific jobs to create other ingredients, and the first one they went into is something called lysine, which is used to fatten up pigs and chickens by adding it to their feed.

    The Informant: A True Story 2001

  • Progen and its collaborators have focused their research on an enzyme known as lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), which contributes to the silencing of important tumor suppressor genes.

    StreetInsider.com News Articles 2009

  • Until the pressure gets to be a bit much, and top-level ADM execs want to know why production of an enzyme called lysine (yes, the same one from Jurassic Park) is on the fritz.

    Stories from The Sun 2009

  • Who knew that a complex tale about an international plot to rig the prices of an animal-feed additive called lysine could be almost impossible to put down?

    Books About Scandals 2010

  • Who knew that a complex tale about an international plot to rig the prices of an animal-feed additive called lysine could be almost impossible to put down?

    Books About Scandals 2010

  • Who knew that a complex tale about an international plot to rig the prices of an animal-feed additive called lysine could be almost impossible to put down?

    Books About Scandals 2010

  • This is due to a type of antioxidant, called pronyl-lysine, that is produced in the baking process.

    Great News for Bread Crust Lovers! 2009

  • You feed them corn dextrose, or at least ADM feeds them corn dextrose, and the bacteria ultimately converts that dextrose into -- into lysine, which is then packaged and sold to the farmers and goes to the chickens, and we ultimately pay for it ourselves when we buy our Chicken McNuggets.

    The Informant: A True Story 2001

  • The protein is high in the amino acid lysine, which is the limiting amino acid in cereals like maize, wheat and rice.

    28 additional technical notes about tropical agriculture 1996

  • The overall protein quality of each of the fermented foods is determined by the content of lysine, which is limiting in the raw material for both the sigda and furundu fermentations and does not increase appreciably during fermentation.

    12 Cassava Processing in Africa 1992

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