Human bio: genetics + pedigrees Flashcards
what is genetics (4)
study of genes/ genomes and their variation
how is DNA packaged so tightly
it is wrapped around histone proteins
mitotic chromosome
nucleosome definition
each particular histone with DNA wrapped around it
minor and major grooves in DNA helicial structure diagram
what are the purines (4)
A and G
what are the pyrimidines
T and C (bases for purine/pyrimidine pairs)
what are genes known as (4)
transcriptional units
what is the exome
all of the exons in a genome
what is the transcriptome (4) (4)
RNA copies of the active protein-coding genes
what is the proteome (4)
the cell’s repertoire of proteins
what is the DNA in between genes called (4) (4)
intergenic DNA
what do all your genes do
- expression, replication, and maintenance of the genome
- signal transduction
- various other activities
- general biochemical functions of the cell
what does RNA polymerase do specifically (4) (4)
RNA polymerase (enzyme obviously) forms a complex with DNA and other proteins to initiation transcription - typically upstream of first exon (start codon)
a single gene can give rise to more than one transcript - results in different forms of a protein
what are housekeeping genes
genes that are regulatory genes that are needed in all cells
what does non-coding DNA do
regulatory elements
non-coding RNA
other sequences including from viruses (HERVs)
epigenetics
DNA packaging via histone modificaiton can influence the can accessibility of DNA binding proteins sites and in turn expression
methylation of CpG islands in promotor regions can affect expression
why is gene regulation good ? (4) (4) (possibly important)
can regulation can be critical for homeostasis, development and in disease, can be responsive to the environment
what are post-transcriptional control microRNAs
~22 bp long
can originate from precursor RNA
do not code for amino acids
bind to complementary region on mRNA
can block transcription of RNA transcript (and leads to degradation of mRNA)
explain chemical tag DNA modifications
chemical modifications (called tags) to DNA and histones can alter the way DNA is accessible/packaged (responsive to environment)
KEEP IN MIND!!! that these modifications do NOT alter the DNA sequence, they’re reversible and can be inherited
what can epigenetics help us to (4) determine (4)
cell lineages and differentiation
explain the redundancy of the universal genetic code
an amino acid may have one for codon that codes for it
learn tRNA structure lol (be able to annotate a diagram)
explain the transcription modification of information (4)
chromatin remodelling
alternative splicing
microRNAs block protein synthesis
explain the translation modification of information (4)
protein folding
polypeptides shortened
sugars added
polypeptides aggregate