Chapter 15 vocab Flashcards
A protein that binds to DNA and stimulates gene transcription. In prokaryotes, activators bind in or near the promoter; in eukaryotes, activators bind to control elements in enhancers.
activator
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.
alternative RNA splicing
A maternal effect gene that codes for a protein responsible for specifying the anterior end in Drosophila.
bicoid
The structural and functional divergence of cells as they become specialized during a multicellular organism’s development. Cell differentiation depends on the control of gene expression.
cell differentiation
A segment of noncoding DNA that helps regulate transcription of a gene by binding a transcription factor. Multiple control elements are present in a eukaryotic gene’s enhancer.
control element
A small molecule that binds to a bacterial repressor protein and changes its shape, allowing it to switch an operon off.
corepressor
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate, a ring-shaped molecule made from ATP that is a common intracellular signaling molecule (second messenger) in eukaryotic cells. It is also a regulator of some bacterial operons.
cyclic AMP (cAMP)
A maternal substance, such as a protein or RNA, placed into an egg that influences the course of early development by regulating the expression of genes that affect the developmental fate of cells.
cytoplasmic determinant
The progressive restriction of developmental potential in which the possible fate of each cell becomes more limited as an embryo develops.
Determination
The expression of different sets of genes by cells with the same genome.
differential gene expression
A gene that helps control the orientation (polarity) of the egg; also called a maternal effect gene.
egg-polarity gene
A mutation with a phenotype leading to death of an embryo or larva.
embryonic lethal
A segment of eukaryotic DNA containing multiple control elements, usually located far from the gene whose transcription it regulates.
enhancer
Inheritance of traits transmitted by mechanisms not directly involving the nucleotide sequence of a genome.
epigenetic inheritance
A method of metabolic control in which the end product of a metabolic pathway acts as an inhibitor of an enzyme within that pathway.
feedback inhibition
A phenomenon in which expression of an allele in offspring depends on whether the allele is inherited from the male or female parent.
genomic imprinting
A unit of genetic function found in bacteria and phages, consisting of a promoter, an operator, and a coordinately regulated cluster of genes whose products function in a common pathway
Operon
In bacterial and phage DNA, a sequence of nucleotides near the start of an operon to which an active repressor can attach. The binding of the repressor prevents RNA polymerase from attaching to the promoter and transcribing the genes of the operon.
Operator
a protein that inhibits gene transcription. In prokaryotes, repressors bind to the DNA in or near the promoter. In eukaryotes, repressors may bind to control elements within enhancers, to activators, or to other proteins in a way that blocks activators from binding to DNA
repressor
A gene that codes fro a protein, such as a repressor, that controls the transcription of another gene or group of genes
regulatory gene
The presence of methyl groups on the DNA bases (usually Cytosine) of plants, animals, and fungi. (also adding methyl groups to bases)
DNA Methylation
the attachment of acety groups to certain amino acids of histone proteins
Histone Acetylation
a small single-stranded RNA molecule, generated from a ahairpin structure on a precursor RNA transcribed from a particular gene. The miRNA associaes with one or more proteins in a complex that can degrade or prevent the translation of mRNA with a complementary sequence
microRNA (miRNA)
one of multiple, small. Single stranded RNA molecules generated by cellular machinery from a long linear double stranded RNA moleule. The siRNA associates with one or more proteins in a complex that can degrade or prevent translation of mRNA with a complementary sequence. In some cases, siRNA can also block transcription by promoting chromatin modification.
small interfering RNA (siRNAi)
a technique used to silence the expression of selected genes. RNAi uses synthetic double stranded RNA molecules that match the sequence of a particular gene to trigger the breakdown of the gene’s messenger RNA
RNA Interference (RNAi)
The process of base pairing betweena gene and a complementary sequence on a nucleic acid molecule
Nucleic Acid Hybridization
In DNA tech, a labled single stranded nucleic acid molecule used to locate a specific nucleotide sequence in a nucleic acid sample. Molecules of the probe hydrodgen bond to thecomplementary sequence wherever it occurs; radioactive, fluorescent, or other labeling of the probe allows its location to be detected
Nucleic Acid Probe
a technique using nucleic acid hybidization with a labled probe to detect the location of specific mRNA in an intact organism
in situ Hybridization
A technique for determining expression of a particular gene. It uses reverse transcriptase and DNA polymerase to synthesize cDNA from all the mRNA in a sample and then subjects the cDNA to PCR amplification using primers specific for the gene of interest.
reverse transriptase-polymerase chain reaction
A double stranded DNA molecule made in vitro using mRNA as a template and the enzymes reverse transcriptase and DNA polymerase. A cDNA molecule corresponds to the exons of a gene
complementary DNA (cDNA)
A method to detect and measure the expression of thousands of genes at one time. Tiny amounts of a large number of single stranded DNA fragments representing different genes are fixed to a glass slide and tested for hybridization with samples of labled cDNA
DNA Microarray Assays
a specific small molecule that binds to a bacterial repressor protein and changes the repressor’s shape so that it cannot bind to an operator, thus swithcing the operator on
inducer
