BIOL211 – Fundamentals of Microbiology

These flashcards contain essential vocabulary and definitions related to fundamental concepts in microbiology, particularly focusing on DNA replication, transcription, translation, and gene expression.

DNA Polymerase

An enzyme that synthesizes new strands of DNA complementary to the parental strand during DNA replication.

Transcription

The process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA, specifically messenger RNA (mRNA).

Translation

The process by which ribosomes read mRNA sequences to synthesize proteins.

Operons

A group of genes in bacteria that are transcribed together and regulated as a single unit to control gene expression.

Initiator Proteins

Proteins that recognize the origin of replication in DNA and start the process of DNA replication.

Complementary Strands

DNA strands that have base pairs matching according to base pairing rules (A with T and G with C).

Exons

Coding sequences in a gene that are retained after RNA processing and are translated into proteins.

Introns

Noncoding sequences in a gene that are removed during RNA processing before translation.

Codon

A sequence of three nucleotides in mRNA that specifies a particular amino acid or a stop signal during translation.

RNA Polymerase

The enzyme responsible for synthesizing RNA from a DNA template during transcription.