Gene Expression Review

A collection of vocabulary flashcards related to gene expression and transcription.

Gene

A specific sequence of DNA that contains the instructions for making a particular protein.

Central Dogma of Biology

The flow of information from DNA to RNA to protein.

Transcription

The process by which the information in DNA is copied into RNA.

Translation

The process by which RNA is used as a template to synthesize proteins.

Promoter

A region of DNA where RNA polymerase binds to initiate transcription.

Enhancers

Regions of DNA where transcription factors bind to regulate transcription.

Transcription Factors

Proteins that bind to specific regions of DNA to regulate the transcription of genes.

Terminator

A sequence of nucleotides that signals RNA polymerase to stop transcription.

Template Strand

The DNA strand that is read by RNA polymerase during transcription.

Non-template Strand

The DNA strand that is not used as a template during transcription.

Elongation

The step in transcription where RNA polymerase adds nucleotides to the growing RNA transcript.

Termination

The final step in transcription where RNA polymerase detaches from the DNA after synthesizing the RNA.

Initiation

The first step in transcription where RNA polymerase binds to the promoter region of the gene.

mRNA

Messenger RNA; the RNA copy of a gene that carries the information to make a protein.