Chapter 11 Vocab Biology

Front 1

virus

Back 1

a package of nucleic acids wrapped in a protein coat

Front 2

bacteriophage

Back 2

a virus that infects bacteria

Front 3

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Back 3

a kind of nucleic acid, a polymer built from monomers called nucleotides

Front 4

nucleotide

Back 4

building blocks of nucleic acid polymers

Front 5

nitrogenous base

Back 5

a single or double ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms with functional groups

Front 6

pyrimidine

Back 6

single-ring structures like the bases thymine and cytosine

Front 7

purine

Back 7

larger, double-ring structures like the bases adenine and guanine

Front 8

double helix

Back 8

two strands of nucleotides wound about each other; structure of DNA

Front 9

DNA replication

Back 9

process of copying the DNA molecule

Front 10

DNA polymerase

Back 10

Enzymes that make the covalent bonds between the nucleotides of the new DNA strand

Front 11

ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Back 11

any nucleic acid whose sugar is ribose rather than the deoxyribose of DNA

Front 12

transcription

Back 12

DNA's nucleotide sequence is converted to the form of a single-stranded RNA molecule

Front 13

translation

Back 13

process by which a sequence of nucleic acids in RNA is used to direct the production of a chain of specific amino acids

Front 14

codon

Back 14

three-base word that codes for one amino acid

Front 15

messenger RNA (mRNA)

Back 15

RNA molecule is transcribed from a DNA template

Front 16

RNA ploymerase

Back 16

transcription enzyme that links the RNA nucleotides together

Front 17

intron

Back 17

internal non-coding region in RNA transcript

Front 18

exon

Back 18

coding region in RNA transcript

Front 19

RNA splicing

Back 19

process by which the introns are removed from RNA transcripts and the remaining exons are joined together

Front 20

transfer RNA (tRNA)

Back 20

RNA that translates the three-letter codons of mRNA to amino acids

Front 21

anticodons

Back 21

in tRNA, a triplet of nitrogenous bases that is complementary to a specific codon in mRNA

Front 22

ribosomal RNA (rRNA)

Back 22

RNA component of ribosomes

Front 23

mutation

Back 23

any change in the nucleotide sequence of DNA

Front 24

mutagen

Back 24

physical or chemical agent that causes mutations