DNA,RNA and Protein Synthesis-Topic 4A Flashcards
What are chromosomes?
Thread like structures each made up of one long molecule of DNA
Where are chromosomes found?
In the nucleus
How do Prokaryotes differ from Eukaryotes when storing DNA? (2 differences + 1 similarity)
Shorter
Circular
However both carry DNA as chromosomes
What forms the primary structure of a protein?
The sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide
What determines the order of amino acids in a polypeptide?
The order of bases in a gene.
What is a gene?
A sequence of DNA bases that codes for either a polypeptide or functional RNA
Each amino acid is coded for by …….. …….
A sequence of three bases called a triplet.
What is the first stage of protein synthesis?
DNA is copied into messenger RNA
What is functional RNA?
RNA molecules (other than mRNA) which perform special tasks In protein synthesis e.g. tRNA
What is a cell’s genome?
The complete set of genes in the cell.
What is a cell’s proteome?
The full range of proteins that the cell is able to produce.
The genetic code is degenerate. What does this mean?
(some) amino acids have more than one coding triplet
The genetic code is Universal. What does this mean?
The same codons code for the same amino acids in all organisms.
What is a benefit of the genetic code being no-overlapping?
Each base in the sequence is part of only one codon.
What are introns?
Sections of non coding DNA within a gene.
What are exons?
Coding sections of DNA within a gene.
Why are introns removed during protein synthesis?
So they don’t affect the amino acid order.
What are Non-coding repeats?
DNA sequences that repeat over and over but don’t code for amino acids either.
Genes can exist in different forms called…
Alleles.
What do alleles do?
Code for slightly different versions of the same polypeptide. (this is because the order of bases in each allele is slightly different)
Humans have …… pairs of chromosomes
23
Pairs of matching chromosomes are called….
homologous pairs
In a homologous pair both chromosomes are the same size and have the same ……. but may have different …….
In a homologous pair both chromosomes are the same size and have the same genes but may have different alleles.
Alleles coding for the same characteristic will be found at the same ………. …… (…….) on each chromosome in a homologous pair.
Alleles coding for the same characteristic will be found at the same fixed position (locus) on each chromosome in a homologous pair