Chapter 12 (Part 1) Flashcards
Complementary Base Pairing
Hydrogen bonding between particular purines and pyrimidines; responsible for the structure of DNA, and some RNA, molecules.
Transformation
Taking up of extraneous genetic material from the environment by bacteria.
DNA replication
Synthesis of a new DNA double helix prior to mitosis and meiosis in eukaryotic cells and during prokaryotic fission in prokaryotic cells.
Template
Parental strand of DNA that serves as a guide for the complementary daughter strand produced during DNA replication.
Semiconservative Replication
Process of DNA replication that results in two double helix molecules, each having one parental and one new strand.
DNA polymerase
During replication, an enzyme that joins the nucleotides complementary to a DNA template.
Telomere
Top of the end of a chromosome that shortens with each cell division and may thereby regulate the number of times a cell can divide.
Replication Fork
In eukaryotic DNA replication, the location where two parental DNA strands separate.
mRNA
Type of RNA formed from a DNA template and bearing coded information for the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide.
rRNA
Structural form of RNA found in the ribosomes.
Central Dogma
Processes that indicate the flow of information from the DNA to RNA to protein in a cell.
Transcription
First stage of gene expression; process whereby a DNA strand serves as a template for the formation of mRNA.
Translation
During gene expression, the process whereby ribosomes use the sequence of codons in mRNA to produce a polypeptide with a particular sequence of amino acids.
Triplet code (codon)
During gene expression, each sequence of three nucleotide bases stands for a particular amino acid.
Histone
A group of proteins involved in forming the nucleosome structure of eukaryote chromatin.
