DNA and RNA Vocabulary
DNA, RNA and Protein Synthesis Vocabulary
DNA
- Transformation-process in which one strain of bacteria is changed by a gene or genes from another strain of bacteria
- Bacteriophage-kind of virus that infects bacteria
- Base pairing-principle that bonds in DNA can form only between adenine and thymine and between guanine and cytosine
- Replication-process of copying DNA prior to cell division
- DNA Polymerase-principal enzyme involved in DNA replication
- Telomere-repetitive DNA at the end of a eukaryotic chromosome
RNA and Protein Synthesis
- RNA-ribonucleic acid; single-stranded nucleic acid that contains the sugar ribose
- Messenger RNA-(mRNA)-type of RNA that carries copies of instructions for the assembly of amino acids into proteins from DNA to the rest of the cell
- Ribosomal RNA-(rRNA) type of RNA that combines with proteins to form ribosomes
- Transfer RNA-(tRNA)-type of RNA that carries each amino acid to a ribosome during protein synthesis
- Transcription-synthesis of a RNA molecule from a DNA template
- RNA Polymerase-enzyme that links together the growing chain of RNA nucleotides during transcription using a DNA strand as a template
- Promoter-specific region of a gene where RNA polymerase can bind and begin transcription
- Intron-sequence of DNA that is not involved in coding for a protein
- Exon-expressed sequence of DNA; codes for a protein
- Polypeptide-long chain of amino acids that make protein.
- Genetic Code-collection of codons of mRNA, each of which directs the incorporation of a particular amino acid into a protein during protein synthesis.
- Codon-group of three nucleotide bases in mRNA that specify a particular amino acid to be incorporated into a protein
- Translation-process by which the sequence of bases of mRNA is converted into the sequence of amino acids of a protein
- Anticodon-group of three bases on a tRNA molecule that are complimentary to the three bases of a condon of mRNA
- Operon-in prokaryotes, a group of adjacent genes that share a common operator and promoter and are transcribed into a single mRNA
16. Operator-short DNA region, adjacent to the promoter of prokaryotic
operon, that binds repressor proteins responsible for controlling the rate of transcription of the operon
- Differentiation-process by which cells become specialized in structure and function
18. Homeotic gene-a class of regulatory genes that determine the identity of body parts and regions in an embryo; mutations in these genes can transform one body part into another
19. Mutation-change in the genetic material of a cell
20. Point Mutation-gene mutation in which a single base pair in DNA has been
changed
- Frameshift Mutation-mutation that shifts the “reading frame” of the genetic message by inserting or deleting a nucleotide
- Mutagen-chemical or physical agents in the environment that interact with DNA and may cause a mutation
- Polyploidy-condition in which an organism has extra sets of chromosomes