DNA and Protein Synthesis Vocab

Question 1

Nucleic Acids

Answer 1

• macromolecule that holds our DNA
• contain genes
• proteins carry out all cellular activity
• 2 of nucleic acids:
  DNA (deoxyribose acid)
  RNA (ribonucleic acid)

Question 2

Nucleotide

Answer 2

• make up nucleic acids
• 3 parts:
  
  • sugar
  • phosphate
  • nitrogen Base

Question 3

Chromosome

Answer 3

tightly coiled strands of DNA (different organisms have a different number of chromosomes)

Question 4

Gene

Answer 4

a section of DNA that has instructions to code for a protein

Question 5

Codon

Answer 5

a set of 3 nucleotides on the mRNA

Question 6

Anticodon

Answer 6

“complementary” 3 nucleotides on tRNA

Question 7

Amino Acid

Answer 7

monomer (building block) for making proteins, held together by peptide bonds

Question 8

Sugar-phosphate backbone

Answer 8

• important structural component of DNA
• 5-carbon deoxyribose sugars and phosphate groups
• sugar and phosphate from the double helix form the “sugar
  phosphate backbone”

Question 9

Base pairing rule

Answer 9

nitrogen bases bond only to their complementary base pair with hydrogen bonds

DNA: RNA:
A - T A - U
G - C G - C

Question 10

3’end

Answer 10

Deoxyribose sugar is always the 3’ end

Question 11

5’end

Answer 11

Phosphate end is always the 5’ end

Question 12

RNA Polymerase

Answer 12

• enzyme that synthesizes RNA from a DNA template
• binds to the DNA promoter where
  transcription is to begin and unzips the gene that needs to
  be copied
• uses complementary base-pairing rules to
  match RNA nucleotides with the exposed DNA nucleotides.

Question 13

Helicase

Answer 13

enzymes that bind and may even remodel nucleic acid or nucleic acid protein complexes