Higher Order Genetics Flashcards
What is anaphase?
(1) stage of mitosis during which sister chromatids separate and move away from each other. (2) Anaphase I and II: stages of meiosis during which chromosome homolog pairs separate (I), and then sister chromatids separate (II)
What is an apicoplast?
a derived non-photosynthetic plastid found in most Apicomplexa
What are bacteriocins?
a protein produced by bacteria of one strain and active against those of a closely related strain
what is a bacteriophage?
a virus that infects bacteria
What are centromeres?
constricted region of a mitotic chromosome that holds sister chromatids together. This is also the site on the DNA where the kinetochore forms so as to capture microtubules from the mitotic spindle
What is chromatin?
complex of DNA, histones, and non-histone proteins found in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell. The material of which chromosomes are made.
What does competent mean when referring to bacteria?
A bacteria that can take up DNA
What are composite transposons?
similar in function to simpletransposonsand Insertion Sequence (IS) elements in that it has protein coding DNA segments flanked by inverted, repeated sequences that can be recognized bytransposaseenzymes
What is conjugation?
in prokaryotes, the direct transfer of DNA between two cells that are temporarily joined. When the two cells are members of different species, conjugation results in horizontal gene transfer
What is conservative movement?
a type of DNA movement where the element is excised from one piece of DNA and inserted in another. Insertion sequences and some transposons use this method.
What is copy number variation?
a phenomenon in which sections of the genome are repeated and thenumberof repeats in the genome varies between individuals in the human population.
What are DNA-only transposons?
transposable element that exists as DNA throughout its life cycle. Many move by cut-and-paste transposition
What is epigenetic inheritance?
inheritance of phenotypuc changes in a cell or organism that do not result from changes in the nucleotide sequence of DNA. Can be due to positive feedback loops of transcriptions regulators or to heritable modifications in chromatin such as DNA methylation or histone modifications
What is euchromatin?
region of an interphase chromosome that stains diffusely; “normal” chromatin, as opposed to the more condensed heterochromatin
What is heterochromatin?
Chromatin that is highly condensed even in interphase; generally transcriptionally inactive
What are histones?
one of a group of small abundant proteins, rich in arginine and lysine, that combine to form the nucleosome cores around which DNA is wrapped in eukaryotic chromosomes
What is histone H1?
“linker” (as opposed to “core”) histone protein that binds to DNA where it exists from a nucleosome and helps package nucleosomes into the 30-nm chromatin fiber
What is horizontal transfer?
gene transfer between bacteria via natural transformation by released naked DNA, transduction by bacteriophages, or sexual exchange by conjugation
What are insertion sequences?
Any of several discrete DNAsequencesthat repeat at various sites on a bacterial chromosome, on certain plasmids, and on bacteriophages and that can move from one site to another on the chromosome, to another plasmid in the same bacterium, or to a bacteriophage
What are LINEs?
Long interspersed nuclear elements: a group of non-LTR (long terminal repeat)retrotransposonswhich are widespread in the genome of manyeukaryotes. They make up around 21.1% of the human genome. LINEs are transcribed into mRNA and translated into protein that acts as a reverse transcriptase. The reverse transcriptase makes a DNA copy of the LINE RNA that can be integrated into the genome at a new site.
What is the lysogenic cycle?
a type of phage replicative cycle in which the viral genome becomes incorporated into the bacterial host chromosome as a prophage, is replicated along with the chromosome, and does not kill the host
What is the lytic cycle?
a type of phage replicative cycle resulting in the release of new phages by lysis of the host cell
What is metaphase?
the third stage of mitosis, in which the spindle is complete and the chromosomes, attached to microtubules at their kinetochores, are all aligned at the metaphase plate
What is microsatellite DNA?
a tract of repetitiveDNAin which certain DNAmotifs (ranging in length from 2–13 base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times.
Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism’sgenome; additionally, they have a highermutationrate than other areas of DNA leading to highgenetic diversity.
What is minisatellite DNA?
a tract of repetitiveDNAin which certainDNAmotifs (ranging in length from 10–60 base pairs) are typically repeated 5-50 times.Minisatellites occur at more than 1,000 locations in the human genome and they are notable for their high mutation rate and high diversity in the population.
What is mitosis?
a process of nuclear division in eukaryotic cells conventionally divided into five stages: prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. Mitosis conserves chromosome number by allocating replicated chromosomes equally to each of the daughter nuclei
What is mobile DNA?
a type of DNA that can move around within the genome. They include: transposons, plasmids, bacteriophage elements and introns
What are nonretroviral transposons?
type of transposable element that moves by being first transcribed into an RNA copy that is converted to DNA by reverse transcriptase then inserted elsewhere in the genome. The mechanism of insertion differs from that of the retroviral-like transposons
What is a nucleoprotein?
a complex consisting of a nucleic acid bonded to a protein
What are nucleosomes?
beadlike structure in eukaryotic chromatin, composed of a short length of DNA wrapped around an octameric core of histone proteins. The fundamental structural unit of chromatin
What is a pandoravirus?
a genus of giant virus with the largest genome size and second largest physical size of any known viral genus.
What is phase variation?
the random switching of phenotype and expression of proteins involved in infection at frequencies much higher than mutation rates
What is position effect variegation?
alteration in gene expression resulting from change in the position of the gene in relation to other chromosomal domains, especially heterochromatic domains. When an active gene is placed next to heterochromatin, the inactivating influence of the heterochromatin can spread to affect the gene to a variable degree, giving rise to position effect variegation
What is prometaphase?
the second stage of mitosis, in which the nuclear envelope fragments and the spindle microtubules attach to the kinetochores of the chromosomes
What is prophase?
the first stage of mitosis, in which the chromatin condenses into discrete chromosomes visible with a light microscope, the mitotic spindle begins to form, and the nucleolus disappears by the nucleus remains intact
What are pseudogenes?
nucleotide sequence of DNA that has accumulated multiple mutations that have rendered an ancestral gene inactive and nonfunctional
What is replicative movement?
a type of DNA movement where the element is duplicated as it moves so that a copy stays in the donor DNA as well as in the recipient DNA molecule. Replicative transposition involves the formation and resolution of a cointegrate molecule
What is a replicon?
a nucleic acid molecule, or part of one, which replicates as a unit, beginning at a specific site within it.
What are retrotransposons?
a transposable element that moves within a genome by means of an RNA intermediate, a transcript of the retrotransposon DNA
What are retroviral-like retrotransposons
a large family of transposons that move themselves in and out of chromosomes by a mechanism similar to that used by retroviruses, being first transcribed into an RNA copy that is converted to DNA by reverse transcriptase then inserted elsewhere in the genome
What are retroviruses?
RNA-containing virus that replicates in a cell by first making an RNA-DNA intermediate and then a double-strand DNA molecule that becomes integrated into the cell’s DNA