DNA Structure and Replication

These flashcards cover key vocabulary related to DNA structure and replication, including significant experiments and concepts related to genetic material.

Griffith's Transformation Principle

The concept that something from the heat-killed smooth strain of bacteria could transform the rough strain into a virulent form.

Bacteriophages

Viruses that infect bacteria, composed of a protein capsule surrounding DNA.

Chargaff's Rules

In any organism, the amount of adenine equals thymine (%A = %T) and the amount of cytosine equals guanine (%C = %G).

Rosalind Franklin

Scientist known for her work with X-ray crystallography that revealed the structure of DNA.

Semiconservative Replication

A type of DNA replication where each new DNA molecule contains one original strand and one newly synthesized strand.

DNA Polymerase

The enzyme that synthesizes new DNA strands by adding complementary nucleotides to a template strand.

Okazaki Fragments

Short segments of DNA synthesized on the lagging strand during DNA replication.

Transcription

The process of synthesizing mRNA from a DNA template.

Ribosomes

Cellular structures where protein synthesis occurs; composed of rRNA and proteins.

Point Mutation

A genetic mutation where a single nucleotide base is changed, inserted, or deleted from a sequence.

Missense Mutation

A mutation that results in the substitution of one amino acid for another in a protein.

Nonsense Mutation

A mutation that converts an amino acid codon into a stop codon, prematurely terminating protein synthesis.

Gene Repair

The processes involving proofreading and repair enzymes that maintain the integrity of DNA.