Keywords Flashcards
Central dogma
The central dogma of molecular biology is “DNA makes RNA and RNA makes protein”
Cell biology
The branch of biology dealing with the study of cells; formation, structure and function
Gene
A distinct sequence of nucleotides forming part of a chromosomes, the order of which determines the order of monomers in a polypeptide/nucleic acid molecule which a cell may synthesise
Replication
Biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule
Polymerase
An enzyme that synthesises long chains of polymers/nucleic acid
Helicase
An enzyme that utilises energy from nucleotide triphosphate hydrolysis in order to unwind the two annealed nucleic acid strands
Ligase
A specific type of enzyme that facilitates the joining of DNA strands together by catalysing the formation of a phosphodiester bond
Primase
An enzyme that synthesises short RNA sequences called primers; they serve as a starting point for DNA synthesis
Primer
A short single strand of RNA or DNA that serves as a starting point for DNA synthesis
Leading Strand
Strand of DNA being replicated continuously
Lagging Strand
Undergoes replication discontinuously in small fragments
Replication Origin
A particular sequence in a genome where replication is initiated
Telomere
A region of repetitive nucleotide sequences at each end of a chromosome, which protects the end of a chromosome from deterioration
PCR
Polymerase chain reaction is a fast technique used to ‘amplify’ small segments of DNA
Chain Termination
A set of three adjacent bases in the DNA that specifies the end of a polypeptide chain
Template
A molecular mold that shapes the structures or sequence of another molecule
Reverse Complement
Converts a DNA sequence into its reverse, complement or reverse-complement counterpart
Quality Score
Numeric probability that determines if a base is accurately sequenced
Dioxynucleotide
Chain-elongating inhibitors of DNA polymerase
Deoxynucleotide
Components of DNA, containing phosphate, sugar and organic bases
Base Pairs
Any of the pairs of nucleotides connecting the complementary strands of a molecule of DNA/RNA, consisting of a purine to a pyrimidine by hydrogen bonding
Promoter
DNA sequences located in the 5’ region adjacent to the transcriptional start site
Transcriptional Start Site
The location where transcription starts at the 5’ end of a gene sequence
Terminator Site
DNA sequence at the end of a transcription unit that causes RNA polymerase to stop transcription
Core RNA Polymerase
Consists of 5 subunits (alpha, alpha’, beta, beta’ w) and is free of sigma factors
RNA Polymerase Holoenzyme
A form of eukaryotic RNA polymerase II that is recruited to the promoters of protein-encoding genes in living cells
Sigma Factor
A protein needed for initiation of transcription in bacteria; it enables specific binding of RNA polymers to gene promoters
Closed Complex
It’s formed following the binding of the enzyme RNA polymerase and holoenzyme to the DNA strand in the promoter region
Open Complex
After binding to the DNA, the RNA polymerase switches from a closed complex to an open complex. This change involves the separation of the DNA strands to form an unwound section of DNA
Core promoter
A portion of the proximal promoter that contains the transcription start sites
TFIID
The first protein to bind to DNA during the formation of the pre-initiation transcription complex of RNA polymerase II
TFIIB
A general transcription factor that is involved in the formation of the RNA polymerase II pre-initiation complex and aids in stimulating transcription initiation
TFIIH
An important protein complex, having roles in transcription of various protein-coding genes and DNA nucleotide excision repair pathways
Activator
A protein that increases gene transcription of a gene or set of genes
CTD of Pol II
One of three RNAP enzymes found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells; it catalyses the transcription of DNA to synthesise precursors of mRNA
Intron
A segment of a DNA or RNA molecule which does not code for proteins and interrupts the sequence of genes
Exon
A segment of a DNA or RNA molecule containing information coding for a protein or peptide sequence.
Complementary Strand
Either of the two chains that make up a double helix of DNA, with corresponding positions on the two chains being composed of a pair of complementary bases
Spliceosome
is a large and complex molecular machine found primarily within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells and removes introns from a transcribed pre-mRNA
Gene Expression
It is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product
5’ Cap
The 5′ cap (cap-0), found on the 5′ end of an mRNA molecule, consists of a guanine nucleotide connected to mRNA via an unusual 5′ to 5′ triphosphate linkage
Poly A Tail
It consists of multiple adenosine monophosphates; in other words, it is a stretch of RNA that has only adenine base
Operon
It is a segment of DNA containing adjacent genes including structural genes, an operator gene, and a regulatory gene
Transcription Regulatory Proteins
Any protein that influences the regions of a DNA molecule that are transcribed by RNA polymerase during the process of transcription
Repressor
A repressor is a protein that binds to a short specific DNA sequence and controls the expression of a gene or operon and is a negatively acting regulatory protein.
Inducer
An inducer is a molecule that regulates gene expression and can bind to protein repressors or activators
Regulatory Sequence
A regulatory sequence is a segment of a nucleic acid molecule which is capable of increasing or decreasing the expression of specific genes within an organism
Operator
An operator is a segment of DNA to which a transcription factor binds to regulate gene expression by repressing it
Polycistronic mRNA
Polycistronic mRNA is a mRNA that encodes several proteins and is characteristic of many bacterial and chloroplast mRNAs
