Title: Unit 4 Key Terms
Course: SAT 170 Introductory Biotechnology > Section: SAT 170 Introductory Biotechnology

Unit 4 Key Terms

Terms

Term | Definitions
3'poly A tail | mRNA modification which is formed from the addition of several adenines at the 3’ end of the mRNA molecule
5'cap | mRNA modification which is formed from the addition of a modified guanine at the 5' end of the mRNA molecule
Anti-codon | region of the tRNA molecule which binds to the mRNA codons
Codon | series of three nucleotides found within an mRNA molecule that correspond to an amino acid
Deletion | a mutation in which a part of a chromosome or sequence of nucleotides is missing
Duplication | a mutation in which a part of a chromosome or sequence of nucleotides has been copied
Exon | coding region of mRNA
Frameshift Mutation | an insertion or deletion which alters the groupings of the codons, and thus alters the reading frame for gene expression
Gene | segment of DNA which codes for a particular protein
Intron | non-coding region of mRNA
Inversion | a mutation in which a part of a chromosome or sequence of nucleotides has been put in the reverse order of its original sequence
Missense Mutation | an alteration of a single nucleotide base within a gene that results in a change of a single amino acid of the protein product of that gene into a different amino acid
mRNA | serves as a copyright of the gene and thus carries DNA's instructions from the nucleus out to the ribosomes
Mutagen | a physical or chemical agent that can cause DNA damage
Nonsense Mutation | an alteration of a single nucleotide base within a gene that results in a change of a single amino acid of the protein product of that gene into a stop signal for expressing that gene
Nuclease | enzyme that is able to cleave nucleic acids including DNA and RNA
Nucleoid | region of the cytoplasm in which the prokaryotic DNA is located
Promoter | region of the transcription unit to which RNA polymerase can bind
Ribosome | intercellular structure which serves as the site of protein synthesis
RNA splicing | the removal of introns from an mRNA transcript
rRNA | makes up the ribosomes
Silent Mutation | an alteration of a single nucleotide base within a gene that results in no change to protein product of that gene
Spliceosome | molecular complex that carrious out the process of RNA splicing
Transcription | the process by which an mRNA molecule is synthesized from a DNA template
Transcription Unit | the segment of DNA that is involved in transcription which includes the promoter, the gene, and the start and termination sites for transcription
Translation | the process by which an mRNA molecule is interpreted into a chain of amino acids for protein synthesis
Translocation | a mutation in which a part of a chromosome or sequence of nucleotides has been moved from its original location to a different chromosome
tRNA | considered the interpreter of translation, transfers amino acids to the growing protein chain