Ch 08 Microbial Genetics Flashcards
What is a base substitution?
A single DNA pair is altered.
What is a frame shift mutation?
A DNA pair is removed causing a shift in the meaning.
What are the chain of events in the central dogma?
DNA
mRNA
Protein
Function
What is an inducible operon?
A gene in the off mode that is expressed, turning it on.
What is a repressible operon?
A gene that is in the ON expressed mode that is turned off, not expressed.
What causes diseases?
Presence of toxic proteins the damaged tissue.
What causes antibiotic resistance?
Mutations the bacterial genome.
What is a biofilm?
Growth on a surface caused by altered bacterial gene expression.
What is biotechnology?
The application of microbes to make a useful product.
What is a genome?
The total genetic information inside a cell including chromosomes and plasmids.
What are chromosomes?
Structures containing DNA that carry hereditary information
What are genes?
Segments of DNA and RNA.
What is DNA made up of?
Repeating nucleotides consisting of a nucleobase, A, T, C, G, a deoxyribose (pentose sugar), and a phosphate group.
How do the base pairs pair up?
A-T
C-G
What is the genetic code?
The rules determined how a nucleotide sequence is converted into an amino acid sequence.
What does it mean when a gene has been expressed?
When the gene codes for a protein have been produced.
What does a genotype mean?
The genetic make up including all its DNA.
What does a phenotype mean?
The expressed DNA properties.
What are the two types of proteins in a microbe?
Enzymatic that catalyze reactions or structural that support the membrane.
What are short tandem repeats?
Non-coding regions
What is vertical and horizontal gene transfer
Transfer from one generation to another.
Transfer among same generations.
What does semi conservative replication mean?
When the original DNA and a new strand come together
Which end of the DNA strand can new nucleotides attached to?
3’
What is the name of the process that provides energy for adding a nucleotide to DNA?
Hydrolysis of the phosphate bonds.
What is transcription?
How are complementary strand from DNA forms RNA.
What does messenger RNA, mRNA, do?
Carries the information for making specific proteins from DNA to make RNA.
What are the two things that transcription requires
RNA polymerase
RNA nucleotides
Where on the DNA strand does RNA transcription begin?
At the promoter.
What is genetics?
Heredity of cell replication, expression, and transfer from on generation to another.
What do small nuclear ribonucleoproteins do?
Remove introns and splice exons together.
What does what does constitutive mean
Product produced at a fixed rate.
What is repression?
Inhibition of gene expression and enzyme synthesis.
What do repressors do?
Block the abilities RNA polymerase to initiate transcription. The default position of a repressible gene is on.
What is an inducer?
A substance that initiates transcription of a gene. The default position of an inducible gene is off.
What does cyclic AMP, cAMP, do?
cAMP binds to the allosteric site of catabolic activator protein then binds to the lac promoter which initiates transcription.
What is natural selection?
The survival of new genotypes.
What is a mutation?
A permanent change to the base sequence of DNA.
What is a missense mutation?
When a base substitution results in an unintended amino acid.
What is a nonsense mutation?
When a nonsense codon results.
What is a frameshift mutation?
When a point in the DNA sequence is removed or inserted and the line is shifted.
What is a mutagen?
An environmental agent that causes DNA mutations.
What is a thymine diner?
When UV forms a thymine dimer and a endonuclease cuts the damaged DNA, an exonuclease removes the damaged DNA, a DNA polymerase fills the gap, and a DNA ligase seals the strand.
What is an autotroph?
A mutant microbe that has different nutritional requirements than its parent.
What is a carcinogen?
A substance that causes cancer.
What is the Ames Test?
Uses bacteria as carcinogenic indicator.
What are reversions?
Substances that reverse the original mutation.
What is genetic recombination?
The exchange of genes between two DNA strands to form new combinations.
What was Griffith’s experiment?
Mice injected with nonvirulent rough strain, R cells, of pneumonia lived; injected with virulent smooth strain, S cells, died; injected with heat-killed S cells lived, but surprisingly injected with both R and heat-killed S cells died. Post mortem blood examination revealed that living S cells were created by transformation.
Conclusion: dead R cells caused a chemical transformation of some R cells into S cells.
What is F factor?
A fertility factor plasmid found in a donor cell in bacteria through a mating bridge.
What is a Hfr cell?
A high-frequency recombination cell bacteria when the F+ F factor has been conjugated with a F- cell into the chromosome. Remember sex pilli forms a bridge.
What is transduction?
DNA transferred from a donor to a recipient inside a virus called a bacteriophage.
What is specialized transduction?
When only certain genes are transferred.
What is a plasmid?
A small circular piece of DNA.
What is a sex pili?
Required for mating Gram-negative bacteria. Could be a bridge from an F cell or an Hfr cell. Involved in gene transfer and attachment onto surfaces.
What is dissimulation plasmid?
Enzymes that trigger catabolism of sugars and hydrocarbons.