Part 5: Molecular Genetics Flashcards
Heterochromatin
Genetic material at is tightly wound into chromosomes, genes generally inactive
Euchromatin
Genetic material that is loose in the cell, available for transcription
Double helix
Long twisted ladder shape of DNA
Nucleotides
Subunits of DNA
5C sugar
Part of a nucleotide, ribose or deoxyribose
Nitrogenous base
A, T (U in RNA), C, or G
Adenine
A
Purine (2 rings)
Guanine
G
Purine (2 rings)
Cytosine
C
Pyrimidine (1 ring)
Thymine
T
Pyrimidine (1 ring)
Phosphodiester bonds
Linkages between nucleotides
Base pairing
Predictable matching of the nitrogenous bases of nucleic acids
A-T or U
C-G
Complementary
One strand of DNA (ideally) fits together perfectly with the other strand because of base pairing
Antiparallel
Property of DNA that strands are opposite to each other (i.e. one strand is 5’-3’ and the other is 3’-5’)
Hydrogen bonds
Bonds between nitrogenous bases on opposite DNA strands
DNA replication
Copying of DNA
Helicase
The enzyme that unwinds the DNA at the beginning of DNA replication
Replication fork
The place where the unwound DNA meets the still wound DNA, and the helicase is present to unwind the DNA
Topoisomerase
Enzyme that goes down the strand of DNA before helicase to prevent tangling and breaking of the DNA while it os being split
DNA polymerase
Adds the new nucleotides to the template strands of DNA
RNA primase
Short strand of RNA nucleotides that is attached to the 5’ end that must be replace by DNA polymerase
Leading strand
Strand that goes from 5’ to 3’ copying, so DNA replication can happen continuously
Lagging strand
3’ to 5’ strand, copied discontinuously
Okazaki fragments
Pieces of DNA formed on the lagging strand that are eventually pasted together to form a new strand of DNA
DNA ligase
The enzyme that pastes the Okazaki fragments together
Semiconservative
Half of each parent strand is conserved and used in the daughter strands
Transcription factors
Proteins that control the transfer of genetic info from DNA to RNA
Uracil
U
Replace thymine
mRNA
Messenger RNA, copies the info stored in the DNA, and carries it to the ribosome