Module 1 Flashcards
Genome
Complete DNA set of an organism; all the genetic material belonging to an organism
Genotype
The code in the DNA that determines the phenotype
Phenotype
The trait that can be observed and measured
Gene
A segment of DNA that codes for a protein
Allele
Gene variants
Mutation
The process that results in different alleles
Chromosomes
Tightly packaged DNA. 46 total in each somatic cell
Autosomes
22 pairs that do not differ between sexes
Sex chromosomes
X, Y
Genetics
The study of inherited traits and variations
Nucleotide
Contains a nitrogenous base, 5-carbon sugar, phosphate group
Polynucleotide
String of nucleotides
Purines
2 rings, A/G
Pyrimidines
1 ring, T/C
Watson and Crick
Determined structure of DNA
Chargaff’s rules
In any organism the amount of A=T and G=C
Complementary base pairs
When 2 nucleotides are H bonded together
A bonds to…
T
C bonds to…
G
Phosphodiester bond
Bond that links the 5’ end to the 3’ end
Enzymes
Proteins that catalyze chemical reactions
Helicase
Separates DNA strands to form a replication fork
DNA Polymerase
Adds nucleotides to 3’ end of the new strand
Primase
Makes short stretch of RNA complimentary to the DNA
Lagging strand
Discontinuous, away from the fork
Leading
Continuous, toward the fork
Ligase
Seals gaps between fragments
Central dogma
Pathway from gene to protein: transcription, translation, DNA to RNA to protein
Uracil
Instead of thymine in RNA
Transcription
Process that makes RNA
Initiation
RNA polymerase binds to promoter to unwind
Elongation
RNA nucleotides are added to the chain
Termination
RNA polymerase reaches a terminator sequence and detaches
Transcription factors
Proteins that turn on transcription
Introns
Interrupting sequences
Exons
Coding regions
Cap
Added to 5’ end
Poly-A tail
Added to 3’ end
RNA splicing
removal of introns and joining exons
Alternative splicing
Genes mix exons to produce different versions of proteins to increase diversity
Amino acid
Primary unit of a protein
Translation
Turns RNA into proteins
Redundant
Amino acids specified by more than one codon
Unambiguous
Amino acid only specified by one codon
tRNA
Molecules that match an amino acid to the corresponding mRNA codon, turning RNA to protein. The key to translation
Anticodon
allows the tRNA to bind to a mRNA codon
Ribosome
Translation occurs on the surface
MET
Initiation codon
Gene expression
Making a protein from a gene
3 Levels of gene regulation
- DNA packaging and epigenetic mods
- transcription factors
- protein degradation in translation
DNA packaging
Limits access to the genes
Barr body
Inactivated X chromosome
Epigenetic marks
Modifications made to the DNA or histones that can be proteins or chemical groups
Gene family
2-10 members
Gene superfamily
100s of members