11.1 & 11.2 Vocab

DNA

molecule made of up complementary double helix strands of nucleotides hydrogen bonded to one another; carries all of our genetic info to be carried onto generations

• A-G

• T-C

gene

a unit of DNA with information encoded into it that must be converted to be expressed

Gene expression

process from a gene’s information being made into a product, commonly a protein

Replication

process DNA goes through when cells are dividing so genetic info is passed to offspring

RNA

complementary strand from DNA segment being transcribed to primarily synthesize proteins, serving as mRNA, tRNA, or rRNA

Transcription

process of a DNA segment being made into a strand of mRNA, which are carrying ‘code’

Translation

process in cytoplasm where mRNA is read by a ribosome to ultimately make a peptide chain, eventually folding to make a protein with a specialized function

anticodon

triplet of nucleotides on tRNA that base-pairs with an mRNA codon

codon

three nitrogenous bases making up a “word” on a mRNA strand to be matched with a particular amino acid

DNA polymerase

enzyme used in replication to build primers and nucleotides into a complementary strand

primer

short sequence of nucleotides used as a placeholder on original DNA strands during replications

RNA Polymerase

enzyme used in transcription to bind to & unwind DNA strands

Okazaki fragments

DNA segments made in the synthesis on the lagging strands

helicase

enzymes that splits DNA strands to start replication

ligase

enzyme that connects strands & fragments during replication together, especially on the lagging strand

semi conservative

refers to where each new DNA molecule formed in replication has an identical parent strand and one newly synthesized complementary strand

leading strand

DNA strand sythesized from 5’ to 3’; continuously

lagging strand

DNA strand sythesized from 3’(-OH) to 5’(P) in fragments; discontinuously

nucleotide bases

molecule consisting of a nitrogenous base, sugar ([deoxy]ribose]), and phosphate group; nucleic acid monomer

sugar phosphate groups

alternating sugar & phosphate groups, that make up the structural backbone of DNA