A reaction analogous to hydrolysis except that the elements of phosphoric acid, rather than of water, are added in the course of splitting a bond; e.g., the formation of glucose 1-phosphate from glycogen. SYN: phosphoroclastic cleavage.
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phos·pho·rol·y·sis .fäs-fə-'räl-ə-səs n, pl -y·ses -.sēz a reversible reaction analogous to hydrolysis in which phosphoric acid functions in a manner similar to that of water with the formation of a phosphate (as glucose-1-phosphate in the breakdown of liver glycogen)
phos·pho·ro·lyt·ic -rō-'lit-ik adj
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phos·pho·rol·y·sis (fos″fə-rolґĭ-sis) cleavage of a chemical bond with simultaneous addition of the elements of phosphoric acid to the residues, as in the splitting of the glycosidic bonds of glycogen catalyzed by the enzyme phosphorylase in carbohydrate metabolism. The reaction is analogous to hydrolysis.Medical dictionary. 2011.