MCB RNA molecules and RNA processing VOCAB

alternative splicing:

assembling subsets of the exons of a gene, which increases the number and diversity of proteins it encodes

amino acid:

a small organic molecules that is a portein building bloock; consisting of an amino group, an acid group, a hydorgen, and an R group

anticodon:

a three-base sequence on one loop of a tRNA that is complementary to an mRNA codon and connects the appropriate amino acid and its mRNA

chaperone protein:

a protein that binds a polypeptide and guides folding

coding strand:

the strand of the DNA double helix for a gene from which RNA is not transcribed

codon:

a continous triplet of mRNA that specifies a particular amino acid

conformation:

the three-dimensional shape of a molecule

exon:

a part of a gene and its corresponding mRNA that encodes amino acids

frameshift mutation:

a mutation that alters a gene’s reading frame

genetic code:

the correspondence between specific mRNA triplets and amino acids

intron:

part of a gene that is transcribed but is excised from the mRNA before translation into protein

isoform:

an alternate version of a protein that arises from a certain combination of translated exons

nonsynonmous codons:

DNA triplets that specify different amino acids

open reading frame:

a sequence of DNA that does not include a stop codon

polypeptide:

a long chain of amino acids

primary structure?

the amino acid sequence of a protein

prion:

an infectious protein

promoter:

a contorl DNA sequence that signals the start of a gene

proteasome:

a multiprotein cellular structure with a tunnel-like shape thorugh which misfolded or excess proteins pass and are dismantled

quaternary structure:

a protein that has more than one polypeptide subunit

reading frame:

the point in a DNA sequence form which contiguous triplets encode amino acids of a proteins (DNA sequence has 3 reading frames)

ribsosomal RNA (rRNA):

RNA that, with proteins, comprises ribosomes

RNA polymerase (RNAP):

an enzyme that adds nucleotides to a growing RNA chain

secondary structure:

folds in a polypeptide caused by attractions between amino acids close together in the primary structure

synonymous codons:

DNA triplets that specify the same amino acid

template strand:

the DNA strand carrying the information to be transcribed

tertiary structure:

folds in a polypeptide caused by interactions between amino acids and water

transcription factors:

proteins that form a structure that binds DNA at certain sequences, initiating transcription at specific sites on chromosomes