ch. 16

Question 1

what is a 3’UTR?

Answer 1

3’ untranslated region; region just downstream of the protein-coding region in an RNA molecule that is not translated

Question 2

what is a 5’ cap?

Answer 2

a methylated guanosine triphosphate (GTP) molecule that is attached to the 5’ end of a mRNA to protect the end from degradation

Question 3

what is a 5’ UTR?

Answer 3

5’ untranslated region; region just upstream of the protein-coding region in an RNA molecule that is not translated

Question 4

what is an activator protein?

Answer 4

a protein that binds to prokaryotic operators to increase transcription

Question 5

what is a catabolite activator protein?

Answer 5

a protein that complexes with cAMP to bind to the promoter sequences of operons which control sugar processing when glucose is not available

Question 6

what is are cis-acting elements?

Answer 6

transcription factor binding sites within the promoter that regulate the transcription of a gene adjacent to it

Question 7

what is a diner enzyme?

Answer 7

enzyme that chops the pre-miRNA into the mature form of the miRNA

Question 8

what is DNA methylation?

Answer 8

epigenetic modification that leads to gene slicing; a process involving adding a methyl group to the DNA molecule

Question 9

what is an enhancer?

Answer 9

a segment of DNA (that is upstream, downstream, perhaps thousands of nucleotides away, or on another chromosome) that influence the transcription of a specific gene

Question 10

what does it mean if traits are epigenetic?

Answer 10

they are heritable changes that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence

Question 11

what is a eukaryotic initiation factor-2?

Answer 11

(elF-2) a protein that binds first to an mRNA to initiate translation

Question 12

what is gene expression?

Answer 12

the processed that control the turning on or off of a gene

Question 13

what is GDP?

Answer 13

a molecule that is left after the energy is used to start translation

Question 14

what is GTP?

Answer 14

an energy-providing molecule that binds to eIF-2 and is needed for translation

Question 15

what is histone acetylation?

Answer 15

the epigenetic modification that leads to gene silencing

Question 16

what is gene silencing?

Answer 16

a process involving adding or removing an acetyl functional group

Question 17

what is an inducible operon?

Answer 17

an operon that can be activated or repressed depending on cellular needs and the surrounding environment

Question 18

what is an initiation complex?

Answer 18

a protein complex containing eIf-2 that starts translation

Question 19

what is a lac operon?

Answer 19

an operon in prokaryotic cells that encodes genes required for processing and intake of lactose

Question 20

what is a large 60S ribosomal subunit?

Answer 20

the second, larger ribosomal subunit that binds to the RNA to translate it into protein

Question 21

what is miRNA?

Answer 21

small RNA molecules (approx. 21 nucleotides) that bind to RNA molecules to degrade them

Question 22

what is myc?

Answer 22

an oncogene that causes cancer in many cancer cells

Question 23

what is a negative regulator?

Answer 23

a protein that prevents transcription

Question 24

what is the operator region of DNA?

Answer 24

region outside the promoter region that binds activators or repressors that control gene expression in prokaryotic cells

Question 25

what is an operon?

Answer 25

a collection of genes involved in a pathway that are transcribed together as a single mRNA in prokaryotic cells

Question 26

what is a poly-A tail?

Answer 26

a series of adenine nucleotides that are attached to he 3’ end of an mRNA to protect it form degradation

Question 27

what is a positive regulator?

Answer 27

a protein that increases transcription

Question 28

what does post-transcriptional mean?

Answer 28

control of a gene expression after the RNA molecule has been created but before it is translated into protein

Question 29

what does post-translational mean?

Answer 29

control of gene expression after a protein has been created

Question 30

what is a proteasome?

Answer 30

an organelle that degrades proteins

Question 31

what is a repressor protein?

Answer 31

a protein that binds to the operator of prokaryotic genes to prevent transcription

Question 32

what is a RISC?

Answer 32

a protein complex that binds along with the miRNA to the RNA to degrade it

Question 33

what is RNA stability?

Answer 33

how long an RNA molecule will remain intact in the cytoplasm

Question 34

what is RBP (RNA-binding protein)?

Answer 34

a protein that binds to the 3’ or 5’ UTR to increase or decrease the RNA stability

Question 35

what is a small 40S ribosomal subunit?

Answer 35

a ribosomal subunit that binds to the RNA to translate it into protein

Question 36

what is a trans-acting element?

Answer 36

a transcription factor binding site found outside the promoter or on another chromosome that influences the transcription of a particular gene

Question 37

what is a transcription factor?

Answer 37

a protein that binds to the DNA at the promoter or enhancer region and that influences transcription of a gene

Question 38

what is a transcription factor binding site?

Answer 38

a sequence of DNA to which a transcription factor binds

Question 39

what is a trp operon?

Answer 39

a series of genes necessary to synthesize tryptophan in prokaryotic cells

Question 40

what is tryptophan?

Answer 40

an amino acid that can be synthesized by prokaryotic cells when necessary

Question 41

what is an untranslated region?

Answer 41

a segment of the RNA molecule that is not translated into protein; these regions lie before and after the protein-coding region