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Molecular biology (Updated 2016) > Glossary A-C > Flashcards

Glossary A-C Flashcards

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1
Q

3’ end

A

The end of a nucleic acid ending in a hydroxyl group on C3 of the ribose of 2-deoxyribose sugar moiety

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2
Q

3’ poly-A tail

A

The non-templated string of adenosines added to the ends of the mRNA precursors during mRNA maturation in eukaryotic organisms.

Varies in length but may be up to 300 nucleotides long.

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3
Q

5’ cap

A

A 7-methyguanidine triphosphate (7-mGppp) nucleotide added to the 5’ end of nascent mRNA precursors through a triphosphate linkage.

The 7-mGppp cap nucleotide is in a reverse polarity to the remainder of the mRNA molecule

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4
Q

5’ end

A

the end of a nucleic acid ending in a phosphate group attached to the C5 of the ribose or 2-deoxyribose sugar moiety

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5
Q

Adenine

A

one of the purine bases found in DNA and RNA (6-aminopurine)

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6
Q

Agarose

A

a large, complex, sulfated polysaccharide that forms a sieving gel when it is melted in an aqueous buffer and allowed to cool below its gelling temperature

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7
Q

Allele

A

Alternative forms of a gene; usually found at the same locus on homologous chromosomes

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8
Q

Allelic expression

A

a phenomenon wherein the expression of one allele prevents the simultaneous expression of the second allele.

also may occur in multigene families

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9
Q

alternative splicing

A

refers to the fact that certain genes retain or omit particular exons in the final spiced transcript

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10
Q

amber mutation

A

one wherein a codon has been modified, resulting in a the formation of a UAG stop codon

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11
Q

aminoacyl-tRNA

A

the form of a tRNA molecular when it has been charged with an amino acid and is capable of providing that amino acid during translation

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12
Q

amplify

A

to increase the quantity of a specific gene by a variety of techniques

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13
Q

aneuploid

A

a cell containing a number of chromosomes that is not an even multiple of the haploid number (n)

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14
Q

anneal

A

the act of two nucleic acid sequences hydrogen bonding through complementarity of the bases determining thier sequences

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15
Q

anticodon

A

the 30base sequence of a tRNA that base-pairs with the mRNA codon to effect translation of the mRNA into polypeptide sequence

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16
Q

antigenic drift

A

a phenomenon in which the genome of an organism (as present in the overall population of the organism) slowly accumulates mutations which, over time, result in the non-recognition of a given antigen by antibodies formed agains previous genotypes of that organism

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17
Q

antigenic shift

A

a phenomenon in which a sudden, dramatic change, in the antigenic characteristics of an organism occurs due to a mixing of genomes. This is not a deliberate behavior of the organism, in contrast with true antigenic variation.

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18
Q

antigenic variation

A

mechanism to ensure rapid sequence variation of the gene(s) encoding orthologs or paralogs (depending on the organism and system involved) of an individual protein antigen.

In most organisms this involved multiple, related gene copies (paralogs), and has evolved as a mechanism to deliberately bring about rapid antigenic change(s) during infection within a single host

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19
Q

antisense RNA

A

RNA that is complementary to the sequence of mRNA molecule, for purposes of preventing its translation

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20
Q

apoprotein

A

a polypeptide subunit of a complete holoprotein; may include an associated prosthetic group

(see also Protein)

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21
Q

attenuation

A

a form of gene regulation wherein termination of transcription is controlled to regulate overall levels of gene expression

22
Q

autosomal

A

refers to the chromosomes that are not involved in sex deterimination

23
Q

BAC

A

abbreviation usually meaning “bacterial artificial chromosome”

however, we have constructed an artificial chromosome containing Babesia bovis centromere, telomeric sequences, and regulatory elements, so is may also refer to a “Babesia artificial chromosome”

24
Q

bacteriophage

A

a virus that infects a bacterium

Bacteriophage λ and M13 are ones commonly used in cloning and/or subcloning of small genes or DNA fragments in E. coli.

Bateriophage P1 is one that is used for fragments up to ca. 95 Kbp in size.

25
Q

band

A

a pattern of light and dark regions by Giemsa staining that can serve as landmarks on chromosomes

26
Q

base

A

in molecular biology, this term refers to the purine bases adenine and guanine, and the pyrimidine bases uracil, thymine, and cytosine, or modification of the these bases

27
Q

base pairing

A

the pairing of specific nitrogenous bases between complementary strands of DNA.

A:T
G:C

28
Q

cancer

A

a disease process initiated by transformation of a cell to behavior lacking in normal proliferative control, and often involving invasive behavior and localized vascularization.

29
Q

cDNA (complementary DNA)

A

sing or double stranded DNA made from RNA template using the enzyme reverse transcriptase

30
Q

centimorgan (cM)

A

a measure of the statistical probability of recombination between alleles.

1 cM represents 1% chance of recombination per meiotic event.

31
Q

central dogma of molecular biology

A

a phrase that refers to the concept of information flow proceeding ONLY from DNA > RNA > PROTEIN

32
Q

centromere

A

the constricted region of a chromosome at which two sister chromatids are joined, and which attach to the spindle during cell division

33
Q

chaperonin (chaperones)

A

a functional class of specialized proteins that associate with nascent polypeptides while they are being synthesized.

prevent the nascent polypeptide from folding prematurely

34
Q

chromatid

A

a single, continuous dsDNA molecule with its unique, complete grouping of genetic information, associated proteins, high-order structures, and centromeric and telomeric regions necessary for seperation and maintenance after replication

35
Q

chromosome

A

the dsDNA molecules containing the nuclear genome in eukaryotes, or the primary, maintained dsDNA genome of prokaryotes.

structurally, this term implies a condensed, fibrillar, nuclear structure containing 1, 2, or more chromatids, depending upon where a cell is within the cell cycle and its state of differentiation.

36
Q

Cis

A

located on the same, physically continuous and contiguous DNA molecule.

37
Q

Clone (noun)

A

one of a collection of cells or vectors containing identical genetic material

38
Q

Clone (verb)

A

the act of duplicating genetic material within a vector

39
Q

codon

A

a group of three consecutive nucleotides within messenger RNA (mRNA) that encodes a message to initiate translation, to incorporate a specific amino acid into the growing polypeptides chain, or to stop translation

40
Q

Co-linearity

A

refers to an exact correspondence between information encoded in DNA and the polypeptide product ultimately translated from transcripts made from the DNA

41
Q

compensation

genetic compensation

A

a situation wherein a product encoded by one allele may provide a function that is missing or defective due to mutation of another allele

42
Q

complement

A

definition is determined by context
[1] the complementary sequence to a nucleic acid sequence under study. The complementary strand will posses opposite polarity to that of the study sequence

[2] to provide a function that is missing or altered, usually because of a mutational event

43
Q

conformation

A

the dimensional structure and orientation of a molecule

44
Q

conformational epitope

A

also called the “global epitope”

An epitope comprised of contiguous but physically discontinuous components of the immunogenic molecule.

In a proteinaceous antigen this could be sequences from different stretches within a polypeptide, or even from different polypeptide subunits.

45
Q

conjugation

A

a temporary physical association between 2 bacteria for the purposes of transferring genetic information

46
Q

consensus sequence

A

a term that refers to sequences common to different genes within an organism or to the same gene among different organisms, that encode a specific function.

This term may be applied to either nucleic acids or proteins, since the protein sequence is completely dependent upon the nucleic acid sequence.

47
Q

constitutive expression

A

constantly expressed at some appreciable level

48
Q

cosmid

A

a vector that incorporated components of both plasmids and the COS region of bacteriophage λ, the combination of which enable it to be replicated in a bacterium (e.g. E. coli), and packaged in bacteriophage λ coat.

May carry relatively large DNA fragments (up to 40 Kilobases)

49
Q

cycle sequencing

A

a method of DNA sequencing that utilizes dideoxynucleotides (labeled with organic fluorochromes), a specific primer sequence, and thermostable DNA polymerase in multiple cycles of DNA melting and extension of the primers after annealing

50
Q

cytosine

A

one of the pyrimidine bases found in DNA and RNA

4-amino-2-hydroxypyrimidine

Molecular biology (Updated 2016) (15 decks)

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