Ch. 3 Flashcards
3’ poly(A) tail
the addition of adenine-containing nucleotides to the 3’ end of mRNA, which contributes to the stability and translational efficiency of mRNA
3’ UTR
a region of a eukaryotic gene that is not translated but instead contains sequences necessary for the termination of transcription by RNA polymerase
5’ cap
a modification to the 5’ end of mature eukaryotic RNA that facilitates interactions between the mRNA and the ribosome
5’ UTR
a region of a eukaryotic gene that is not translated but instead contains sequences that when transcribed into RNA will facilitate interaction with the protein translational machinery
adaptive immunity
the subsystem of the overall immune response consisting of cells that recognize molecules that the organism has been exposed to before; also called acquired immunity. the success of vaccines is based on this response
bacteriophage
a virus that infects bacteria; useful as a tool in nucleic acid biochemistry and molecular biology
centromere
the region of connection between sister chromatids, composed of heterochromatin; the site of attachment for the mitotic or meiotic spindle
Chargaff’s rule
in DNA from any cell of any organism, the percentage of adenine equals the percentage of thymine (%A=%T), and the percentage of guanine equals the percentage of cytosine (%G = %C)
clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)
related DNA sequences in prokaryotic genomes derived from DNA fragments of bacterial viruses, which are used to destroy DNA from similar bacterial viruses after infection
complementary DNA (cDNA)
a DNA molecule, usually synthesized by the enzyme reverse transcriptase, that is complementary to a given mRNA; used in DNA cloning
conjugation (plasmid)
part of the bacterial mating process in which a donor bacterium transfers a copy of the plasmid to a recipient cell
CRISPR RNA (crRNA)
RNA that is transcribed from the CRISPR region in the bacterial genome. the CRISPR RNA forms an RNA: DNA duplex with the invading bacterial virus to identify it as an invading pathogen to be destroyed by the CRISPR-associated (Cas) endonuclease
CRISPR-associated (Cas)
the bacterial endonuclease that cleaves the double-strand crDNA:DNA duplex that forms between the crRNA produced by the bacterium and the DNA genome of the invading bacterial virus
denaturation
partial or complete unfolding of the conformation of a protein or nucleic acid chain
dideoxynucleoside triphosphate (ddNTP)
a key reagent in the Sanger DNA sequencing method that terminates DNA synthesis reactions
DNA ligase
an enzyme that cells use to repair a nick in the phosphodiester backbone; it catalyzes the formation of a phosphodiester bond
DNA methylase
an enzyme that methylates DNA at specific sequences
euchromatin
a region of chromatin that is loosely packed with nucleosomes and associated with actively transcribed genes
exon
a coding region of a eukaryotic gene; separated from one another by introns
exon shuffling
the mixing and matching of protein-coding sequences during evolution to generate genes with novel functions
gene expression microarray
a solid surface, often a microchip, that contains covalently linked deoxyoligonucleotide segments that are used to identify complementary mRNA (or cDNA) sequence in a sample
gene knock-in
a modified gene that contains sequences introduced exogenously by a gene-editing method through a homologous recombination event
gene knockout
a modified gene that contains point mutations or deletions that destroy the function of the gene by altering the sequence of the transcribed RNA product
G-quadruplex
a DNA structure consisting of four base-paired guanine residues derived from one, two, or four DNA strands
heterochromatin
a dense form of chromatin composed of mostly noncoding DNA
histone protein
a group of small basic eukaryotic proteins around which DNA wraps to form nucleosomes
hutchinson-gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS)
the most common in a group of fatal disorders that cause rapid aging in children as a result of DNA damage
hyperchromic effect
the increase in light absorbance at 260 nm as double-stranded DNA unwinds and separates
intercalated-motif (I-motif)
four-stranded DNA quadruplex structure containing mostly cytosine residues