DNA Replication and Gene Expression Flashcards

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering the fundamentals of DNA structure, replication, transcription, and translation based on the lecture transcript.

Genome

The complete set of genetic information within a cell, including all the genes contained within their family.

Genomics

The study of the nucleotides of the genome.

Gene

The functional unit of the genome that encodes for a product, which in most cases are proteins or RNA.

Phenotype

Refers to the visible or observable trait of an individual or cell, which is due to the expression of genes to make proteins.

Genotype

The genome of the organism that contains all the genes.

Central Dogma of Follicular Biology

The concept that information flow inside a cell moves from DNA to RNA and then to the protein.

Transcription

The process where information in the DNA or gene is copied to produce an RNA molecule.

Translation

The process of decoding information in mRNA to produce a protein.

Leoxyribonucleotides

The specific name for the nucleotides that make up DNA.

Complementary

The term used to describe the two strands of DNA due to specific pairing between nucleotides.

Hydrogen Bonds

The bonds holding two DNA strands together, with $2$ bonds between adenine and thiamine and $3$ bonds between cytosine and guanine.

Denaturation (Melting)

The process of separating the two strands of a DNA molecule, typically by exposing it to high heat.

Anti Parallel

Refers to the two strands of DNA running in opposite directions, one from $3'$ to $5'$ and the other from $5'$ to $3'$.

Ribonucleotides

The type of nucleotides that make up RNA molecules.

Uracil

The base in RNA that replaces thiamine and pairs with acne (adenine).

Messenger RNA (mRNA)

The type of RNA that is translated to protein and carries information to the ribosome.

Ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs)

Structural RNA that makes up the ribosome.

Transfer RNA (tRNA)

RNA that brings amino acids to the ribosome to be added to the growing peptide chain.

Origin of Replication

The specific site where the duplication of the genome begins.

Bidirectional

A characteristic of DNA replication where it goes in both directions from the origin, forming two replication forks.

Termination Site

The site where the DNA replication process ends.

Semi Conservative

A type of replication resulting in two DNA molecules that each contain one original parental strand and one newly synthesized strand.

DNA Polymerase

The enzyme that synthesizes new DNA strands by reading the template in the $3'$ to $5'$ direction and synthesizing in the $5'$ to $3'$ direction.

RNA Primer

A piece of RNA required at the origin of replication because DNA polymerase can only add nucleotides to an existing $3'$ hydroxyl end.

Leading Strand

The DNA strand that is synthesized continuously from the beginning until the end.

Lagging Strand

The DNA strand synthesized in small fragments because it cannot be read in the same continuous direction as the leading strand.

Okusaki Fragments

The small fragments of DNA that are synthesized on the lagging strand.

RNA Polymerase

The enzyme responsible for transcription that synthesizes a complementary strand of RNA from a DNA gene and does not require a primer.

Promoter

A region in the DNA upstream of a gene that tells RNA polymerase where to bind to start transcription.

Terminator

A region at the end of a gene that tells RNA polymerase where to stop the transcription process.