Unit 4 AOS 2: DNA manipulation Flashcards
Anneal
The joining together of DNA or RNA fragments by complementary base pairing
Bacterial transformation
The incorporation of DNA from another organism into a bacterial cell
Bacteriophage
A virus that infects bacteria
Blunt-end restriction enzyme
A restriction enzyme that leaves clean-cut ends because it cuts both strands of the DNA molecule at the same location within the recognition site
Complementary DNA (cDNA)
Double-stranded DNA that contains no introns; copied from mRNA by the enzyme reverse transcriptase
DNA amplification
The process of creating millions of identical copies of a DNA sample using the PCR reaction
DNA ladder
DNA standards; a set of DNA molecules of known size used as a ‘molecular ruler’ on gel electrophoresis to determine the size of other DNA molecules
DNA ligase
An enzyme that joins together fragments of DNA by forming a phosphodiester bond between the 3-hydroxyl and 5-phosphate of adjacent nucleotides
DNA polymerase
An enzyme that catalyses the formation of polymers of DNA by linking nucleotides into a chain by complementary base pairing with a template strand
DNA thermocycler
The machine used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that alters the temperature in pre-programmed steps
Endonuclease
An enzyme, also called a restriction enzyme, that occurs naturally in bacteria and can cut DNA at a particular site (a recognition site); used in genetic engineering
Gel electrophoresis
A technique used for separating fragments of DNA, or different proteins, based on their molecular weight (or length). Fragments migrate through a gel at rates that are dependent on their length and charge
Gene cloning
The production of identical copies of a gene
Helicase
A type of enzyme that unwinds and unzips the two strands of a DNA molecule
Inducer
A molecule that regulates gene expression
lacZ gene
A gene in the lac operon that codes for beta-galactosidase; used in recombinant plasmids for detecting transformed bacteria
Ligase
An enzyme that joins together two molecules or fragments of molecules
Ligation
The process of joining two fragments of DNA using a DNA ligase enzyme