BCS DENNIS Exam Unit 3 Study

Flashcards covering key biology vocabulary and concepts related to DNA, transcription, translation, and gene regulation.

isotopes

Different forms of the same element.

protons

Two different isotopes of a given element have the SAME number of protons.

neutrons

Two different isotopes of a given element have a DIFFERENT number of neutrons in its nucleus.

unstable

Having different numbers of neutrons makes an atomic nucleus unstable.

radioactive decay

The process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles or radiation.

griffith

Demonstrations of bacterial transformation was discovered by Griffith.

Avery, McCarty, and MacLeod

The transforming factor is separable according to Avery, McCarty, and MacLeod.

Hershey and Chase

The transforming factor is DNA, discovered by Hershey and Chase.

chargaff

Chargaff discovered ratios of DNA within and between species.

Watson and Crick

Watson and Crick provided the description of the 3D DNA structure.

franklin

Franklin produced an X-ray crystallography of DNA.

Chargaff's rules

Chargaff's rules state that in any species there is an equal number of A and T bases, and an equal number of G and C bases.

meselson and stahl

Semi-conservative replication was demonstrated by Meselson and Stahl.

topoisomerase

Topoisomerase relieves the strain of twisting caused by unwinding during replication.

primase

Primase makes a primer - a short RNA starting point - for synthesis of a DNA strand.

polymerase

Polymerase polymerizes a new strand of DNA by adding nucleotides.

ligase

Ligase ligates or joins together nucleic acids.

origins of replication

Replication begins at special sites called origins of replication.

single-strand binding

Single-strand binding protein binds to and stabilizes single-stranded DNA.

nucleotide triphosphate

Each nucleotide that is added to a growing DNA strand is a nucleoside triphosphate.

deoxyribose

dATP has deoxyribose sugars.

ribose

ATP has ribose sugars.

antiparallel

The antiparallel structure of the double helix affects replication.

transcription

Synthesis of RNA under the direction of DNA.

translation

Synthesis of a polypeptide which occurs under the direction of mRNA.

nuclear envelope

In a eukaryotic cell, the nuclear envelope separates transcription from translation.

mRNA

Eukaryotic RNA transcripts are modified through RNA processing to yield finished mRNA.

genetic information

The central dogma is represented as DNA -> RNA -> protein.

codons

During translation, the mRNA base triplets called codons are read in the 5' to 3' direction.

uracil

In RNA, uracil substitutes for thymine.

promoter

The DNA sequence where RNA polymerase attaches is called the promoter.

terminator

In bacteria, the sequence signaling the end of transcription is called the terminator.

transcription factors

Proteins that assist RNA polymerase in initiating transcription.

activator

An activator is a protein that binds to an enhancer and stimulates transcription.

repressor

The repressor is the product of a separate regulatory gene that inhibits transcription.