Chapter 7B Vocab
Chapter 7: Essentials of Molecular Biology
Terms
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- Peptidyl Transferase
- A reaction catalyzed by rRNA that forms the peptide bonds in a protein during translation.
- Degenerate Code
- A code that has more than one codon for the same amino acid. Example: AAA and AAU.
- Hybridization
- Formation of a duplex nucleic acid with strands derived from different sources by complementary base pairing.
- Probes
- A strand of nucleic acid that can be labeled and used to hybridized to a complementary molecule from a mixture of other nucleic acids.
- Svedberg Units
- Units of sedimentation coefficients of ribosome subunits (i.e. 30S and 50S) or intact ribosomes (i.e. 70S) when subjected to centrifugal force in an untracentrifuge.
- Sticky Ends
- Short, single-stranded regions of DNA that came from broken double-stranded palindromic DNA.
- Sigma Factor
- Part of DNA Polymerase III that recognizes the appropriate site on the DNA for the initiation of RNA synthesis. Once this site is found and transcription has started, it is then released.
- Consensus Sequence
- A nucleic acid sequence in which the base present in a given position is that base most commonly found when many experimentally determined sequences are compared.
- tRNA, rRNA, mRNA
- The three types of RNA used for RNA transcription and translation.
- Codon
- A sequence of three bases in mRNA that encodes an amino acid.
- RNA Polymerase Core Enzyme
- An enzyme that synthesizes RNA in the 5' to 3' direction using a complementary and antiparallel DNA strand as a template.
- Operon
- A cluster of genes whose expression is controlled by a single operator.
- Ribosome Subunits
- A part of the ribosome that floats freely in the cell until translation occurs.
- Rho-Dependent Terminator
- An ending sequence during transcription that requires the use of the Rho protein to end the transcription process.
- Molecular Chaperones
- A protein that helps other proteins fold or refold from a partially denatured state.
- Restriction Enzyme
- An enzyme that recognizes and breaks DNA at specific sequences.
- Heat Shock Proteins
- A protein that helps prevent the denaturation of other proteins in high temperature environments.
- Promoter
- A site on DNA to which RNA polymerase binds to commence transcription.
- Primers
- Oligonucleotides to which DNA polymerase can attach the first deoxyribonucleotide during DNA replication.
- Signal Recognition Particle
- A small RNA that recognizes the signal sequence-containing protein and then transports the protein to its destination for function.
- Polycistronic mRNA
- The product formed when RNA polymerase transcribes a whole series of genes into a single, long mRNA molecule.
- Translocation
- The process of moving the ribosome along the mRNA to have it translated into a protein.
- Translation
- The synthesis of protein using the genetic information in mRNA as a template.
- Initiation Complex
- A complex formed when the 30S subunit attaches to the beginning of mRNA for translation.
- Polysome
- A complex formed when multiple ribosomes are translating the same mRNA into proteins.
- Rho-Independent Terminator
- An ending sequence during transcription that does not require the use of the Rho protein to end the transcription process.
- Universal Code
- The genetic code that virtually all cells use.
- Reading Frame
- The sequence that is read during trnslation. the 0 frame is the "correct" frame, and -1 and +1 frames are shifted to the left or right of the correct frame, causing incorrect translations and nonfunctional proteins.
- Shine Dalgamo
- A short stretch of nucleotides on a prokaryotic mRNA molecule upstream of the translational start site that binds to ribosomal RNA and thereby brings the ribosome to the initiation codon on the mRNA.
- Aminoacyl tRNA Synthetase
- An enzyme that catalyzes attachment of an amino acid to its cognate tRNA.