AP Biology Unit 6 Exam Review

A set of vocabulary flashcards to help review key concepts for the upcoming AP Biology Unit 6 exam.

DNA

A double-stranded nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and functioning of living things.

RNA

A single-stranded nucleic acid that plays a central role in the synthesis of proteins.

Chargaff’s Rule

States that in DNA, the amount of adenine equals thymine and the amount of cytosine equals guanine.

Semi-Conservative Replication

The process by which DNA is copied in a way that each new DNA molecule contains one original and one newly synthesized strand.

Topoisomerase

An enzyme that helps relieve the strain of unwinding DNA during replication.

Helicase

An enzyme that unwinds the DNA double helix during replication.

DNA Polymerase

An enzyme that synthesizes new DNA strands by adding nucleotides complementary to the template strand.

Primase

An enzyme that synthesizes a short RNA primer to initiate DNA replication.

Ligase

An enzyme that connects Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand during DNA replication.

Transcription

The process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA.

RNA Polymerase

The enzyme responsible for synthesizing RNA from a DNA template.

Exons

Coding segments of a gene that are expressed in the final mRNA.

Introns

Non-coding segments of a gene that are removed during RNA processing.

Translation

The process by which the sequence of nucleotides in mRNA is translated into a sequence of amino acids to form a protein.

Codon Chart

A table that shows the relationship between codons in mRNA and the amino acids they code for.

Alternative RNA Splicing

A process that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins by splicing together different combinations of exons.

Substitution Mutation

A type of mutation where one base pair is replaced by another.

Insertion Mutation

A mutation in which extra base pairs are added into the DNA sequence.

Deletion Mutation

A mutation where a section of DNA is lost or deleted.

Frameshift Mutation

A type of mutation that shifts the reading frame of the genetic message by inserting or deleting a nucleotide.

Silent Mutation

A mutation that does not change the amino acid sequence of a protein.

Missense Mutation

A mutation that results in a different amino acid being incorporated into a protein.

Nonsense Mutation

A mutation that introduces a premature stop codon in the protein sequence.

Plasmid

A small, circular piece of DNA that can replicate independently of chromosomal DNA in bacteria.

Bacterial Transformation

The process by which bacteria take up foreign DNA from their environment.

Gel Electrophoresis

A technique used to separate DNA fragments based on size.