Ch. 17 Vocab

Question 1

the synthesis of RNA using a DNA template

Answer 1

transcription

Question 2

a type of RNA, synthesized using a DNA template, that attaches to ribosomes in the cytoplasm and specifies the primary structure of a protein

Answer 2

mRNA

Question 3

the synthesis of a polypeptide using the genetic information encoded in an mRNA molecule

Answer 3

translation

Question 4

the sugar component of RNA nucleotides

Answer 4

ribosomes

Question 5

a set of three-nucleotide-long words that specify the amino acids for polypeptide chains

Answer 5

triplet code

Question 6

the DNA strand that provides the pattern, or template, for ordering the sequence of nucleotides in an RNA transcript

Answer 6

template strand

Question 7

an enzyme that links ribonucleotides into a growing RNA chain during transcription

Answer 7

RNA polymerase

Question 8

a specific nucleotide sequence in DNA that binds RNA polymerases positioning it to start transcribing RNA at the appropriate place

Answer 8

promoter

Question 9

in bacteria, a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that marks the end of a gene and signals RNA polymerase to release the newly made RNA molecule and detach from the DNA

Answer 9

terminator

Question 10

a regulatory protein that binds to DNA and affects transcription of specific genes

Answer 10

transcription factors

Question 11

modification of RNA transcripts, including splicing out introns, joining together of exons, and alteration of the 5’ and 3’ ends

Answer 11

RNA processing

Question 12

a noncoding, intervening sequence within a primary transcript that is removed from the transcript during RNA processing

Answer 12

introns

Question 13

a sequence within a primary transcript that remains in the RNA after RNA processing

Answer 13

exon

Question 14

a large complex made up of proteins and RNA molecules that splices RNA by interacting with the ends of an RNA intron, releasing the intron and joining the two adjacent exons

Answer 14

spliceosome

Question 15

a type of eukaryotic gene regulation at the RNA-processing level in which different mRNA molecules are produced from the same primary transcript, depending on which RNA segments are treated as exons and which as introns

Answer 15

alternative RNA splicing

Question 16

an independently folding part of a protein

Answer 16

domains

Question 17

an RNA molecule that functions as an interpreter between nucleic acid and protein language by picking up specific amino acids and recognizing the appropriate codons in mRNA

Answer 17

tRNA

Question 18

a nucleotide triplet at one end of a tRNA molecule that recognizes a particular complementary codon on an mRNA molecule

Answer 18

anticodon

Question 19

flexibility in the base-pairing rules in which the nucleotide at the 5’ end of a tRNA codon can form hydrogen bonds with more than one kind of base in the third position of a codon

Answer 19

wobble

Question 20

the most abundant type of RNA, which together with proteins makes up ribosomes

Answer 20

rRNA

Question 21

holds the tRNA carrying the next amino acid to be added to the polypeptide chain

Answer 21

A site

Question 22

holds the tRNA carrying the growing polypeptide chain

Answer 22

P site

Question 23

the place where discharged tRNAs leave the ribosome

Answer 23

E site

Question 24

a group of several ribosomes attached to, and translating, the same messenger RNA molecule

Answer 24

polyribosome

Question 25

a change in the nucleotide sequence of an organism’s DNA, ultimately creating genetic diversity

Answer 25

mutation

Question 26

a change in a gene at a single nucleotide pair

Answer 26

point mutation

Question 27

a base-pair substitution that results in a codon that codes for a different amino acid

Answer 27

missense mutation

Question 28

a type of point mutation; the replacement of one nucleotide and its partner in the complementary DNA strand by another pair of nucleotides

Answer 28

base-pair substitution

Question 29

a mutation that changes an amino acid codon to one of the three stop codons, resulting in a shorter and usually nonfunctional protein

Answer 29

nonsense mutation

Question 30

a mutation involving the addition of one or more nucleotide pairs to a gene

Answer 30

insertion

Question 31

a mutational loss of one or more nucleotide pairs from a gene

Answer 31

deletion

Question 32

a mutation occurring when the number of nucleotides inserted or deleted is not a multiple of three, resulting in the improper grouping of the subsequent nucleotides into codons

Answer 32

frameshift mutation

Question 33

a chemical or physical agent that interacts with DNA and causes a mutation

Answer 33

mutagens

Question 34

the process by which DNA directs the synthesis of proteins, or, in some cases, just RNAs

Answer 34

gene expression