Chapter 5: Nucleic Acids (Transcription) Flashcards
states that in cells, the flow of genetic information contained in DNA is a one-way street that leads from DNA to RNA to protein
central dogma
no. of base pairs of DNA in humans
50 million to 300 million
no. of nucleotides in RNA
75 to few thousands nucleotides
similarities between DNA and RNA
- nucleic acids
- composed of nucleotides
- sugar-phosphate backbone
- nitrogenous bases
Types of RNA
- heterogenous nuclear RNA (hnRNA)
- messenger RNA (mRNA)
- small nuclear RNA (snRNA)
- ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
- transfer RNA (tRNA)
RNA formed directly by DNA transcription
heterogeneous nuclear RNA (hnRNA)
converts the hnRNA to mRNA
post-transcription processing
RNA that carries instructions for protein synthesis to the sites for protein synthesis
messenger RNA (mRNA)
- RNA that facilitates the conversion of hnRNA to mRNA
- contains 100 to 200 nucleotides
small nuclear RNA (snRNA)
small nuclear RNA (snRNA) contains how many nucleotides
100 to 200
- RNA that combines with specific proteins to form ribosomes, the physical site for protein synthesis
- has no informational function
ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
- RNA that delivers amino acids to sites for protein synthesis
- smallest of the RNAs, possessing only 75 to 90 nucleotide units
transfer RNA (tRNA)
transfer RNA (tRNA) contains how many nucleotides
only 75 to 90
any part of a gene that will form part of the final mature RNA
exon
noncoding sections of an RNA transcript, or the DNA encoding it, that are spliced out before the RNA molecule is translated into a protein
Introns
- biological process where a newly synthesized pre-mRNA transcript is processed and transformed into mRNA
- involves the removing of non-coding regions of RNA (introns) and the joining of the coding regions (exons)
RNA splicing
in RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are covalently joined to one another as part of generating __ __
mature RNA
entire set of exons constitute __
exome
RNA molecules differ from DNA molecules in that they are
single stranded
m in the designation mRNA stands for
messenger
t in the designation tRNA stands for
transfer
involved in the transcription phase of protein synthesis
hnRNA