Ap Biology: Molecular Genetics Vocabulary

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Amino Acid

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Amino acids are the building blocks of all biological proteins. Have an amine and carboxyl group.

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Anticodon

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A sequence of three adjacent nucleotides located on one end of transfer RNA. It bounds to the complementary coding triplet of nucleotides in messenger RNA during translation phase of protein synthesis

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Base Pairing Rules

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Constraints imposed by the molecular structure of DNA and RNA on the formation of hydrogen bonds among the four purine and pyrimidine bases such that adenine pairs with thymine or uracil, and guanine pairs with cytosine

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Coding Strand

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The DNA strand whose base sequence corresponds to the base sequence of the RNA transcript produced (although with thymine replaced by uracil). It is this strand which contains codons, while the non-coding strand contains anticodons.

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Codon

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Triplet set on nucleotides

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DNA

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Deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.

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DNA Ligase

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Enzyme that joins DNA fragments by joining the sugar-phosphate backbones.

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DNA Polymerase

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Enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of new DNA by adding nucleotides to a pre-existing chain.

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DNA Replication

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The process of which DNA is replicated

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Exons

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any part of a gene that will encode a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing

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Gel Electrophoresis

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a laboratory method used to separate mixtures of DNA, RNA, or proteins according to molecular size.

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Gene Expression

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the process by which possession of a gene leads to the appearance in the phenotype of the corresponding character.

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Genetic Code

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the nucleotide triplets of DNA and RNA molecules that carry genetic information in living cells.

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Genetic Engineering

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Direct manipulation of genes for practical purposes

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Helicase

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An enzyme that unwinds the double helix of DNA at replication forks, separating the two strands making them available as a template strand

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Hydrogen bonding

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The binding of nucleotides to completely unite two DNA strands

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Introns

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a segment of a DNA or RNA molecule that does not code for proteins and interrupts the sequence of genes.

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lagging Strand

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A lagging strand requires a slight delay before undergoing replication, and it must undergo replication discontinuously in small fragments. Away from the Fork

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Leading Strand

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It is replicated continuously in the 3' to 5' direction. Towards the Fork

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Mutation

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the changing of the structure of a gene, resulting in a variant form that may be transmitted to subsequent generations, caused by the alteration of single base units in DNA, or the deletion, insertion, or rearrangement of larger sections of genes or chromosomes.

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Nucleic Acids

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a complex organic substance present in living cells, especially DNA or RNA, whose molecules consist of many nucleotides linked in a long chain.

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Nucleotides

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a compound consisting of a nucleoside linked to a phosphate group. Nucleotides form the basic structural unit of nucleic acids such as DNA.

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Okazaki Fragments

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are short, newly synthesized DNAfragments that are formed on the lagging template strand during DNA replication. They are complementary to the lagging template strand, together forming short double-stranded DNA sections.

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PCR

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(polymerase chain reaction) is a technique in molecular genetics that permits the analysis of any short sequence of DNA (or RNA) even in samples containing only minute quantities of DNA or RNA. PCR is used to reproduce (amplify) selected sections of DNA or RNA for analysis.

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Protein

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any of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds that consist of large molecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acids and are an essential part of all living organisms, especially as structural components of body tissues such as muscle, hair, collagen, etc., and as enzymes and antibodies.

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Regulatory Sequence

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a segment of a nucleic acid molecule which is capable of increasing or decreasing the expression of specific genes within an organism.

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Replication Fork

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Fork where DNA in being unzipped

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Restriction Enzyme

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enzyme that cuts DNA at or near specific recognition nucleotide sequences known as restriction sites.

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Reverse Transcription

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RNA to DNA

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RNA

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ribonucleic acid, a nucleic acid present in all living cells. Its principal role is to act as a messenger carrying instructions from DNA for controlling the synthesis of proteins, although in some viruses RNA rather than DNA carries the genetic information.

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mRNA

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a subtype of RNA. An mRNA molecule carries a portion of the DNA code to other parts of the cell for processing. mRNA is created during transcription. During the transcription process, a single strand of DNA is decoded by RNA polymerase, and mRNA is synthesized.

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rRNA

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a molecular component of a ribosome, the cell's essential protein factory. Strictly speaking, ribosomal RNA (rRNA) does not make proteins. It makes polypeptides (assemblies of amino acids) that go to make up proteins.

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tRNA

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Small RNA molecules that carry amino acids to the ribosome for polymerization into a polypeptide. During translation the amino acid is inserted into the growing polypeptide chain when the anticodon of the tRNA pairs with a codon on the mRNA being translated.

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Regulatory RNA

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are non-coding RNAmolecules that play a role in cellular processes such as activation or inhibition processes.

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Start Codon

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the first codon of a messenger RNA (mRNA) transcript translated by a ribosome. The start codon always codes for methionine in eukaryotes and a modified Met (fMet) in prokaryotes AUG

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Stop Codon

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a nucleotide triplet within messenger RNA that signals a termination of translation into proteins.

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Template Strand

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DNA strand that provides the pattern, or template for ordering by complementary base pairing the sequence of nucleotides in an RNA transcript

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Transcription

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is the process by which the information in a strand of DNA is copied into a new molecule of messenger RNA (mRNA

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Transcription Factors

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Regulatory protein that binds to DNA and affects transcription st specific genes

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Transgenic Organism

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Organism whose genome has been created by combining 2 or more sources of DNA

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Translation

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is the process of translating the sequence of a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule to a sequence of amino acids during protein synthesis