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Advanced Biology 16
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Bacteriaphages | A virus that infects bacteria. |
Transformation | A change in genotype and phenotype due to the assimilation of external DNA by a cell. |
Virus | An infectious particle incapable of replicating outside of a cell, consisting of an RNA or DNA genome surrounded by a protein coat (capsid). |
Double-Helix | The form of native DNA, referring to its two adjacent antiparallel polynucleotide strands wound around an imaginary axis into a spiral shape. |
Origin of Replication | Site where the replication of a DNA molecule begins, consisting of a specific sequence of nucleotides. |
Replication Fork | A Y-shaped region on a replicating DNA molecule where the parental strands are being unwound and new strands are being synthesized. |
Primer | A short stretch of RNA with a free 3′ end, bound by complementary base pairing to the template strand and elongated with DNA nucleotides during DNA replication. |
DNA Polymerase | An enzyme that catalyzes the elongation of new DNA (for example, at a replication fork) by the addition of nucleotides to the 3′ end of an existing chain. |
Leading Strand | The new complementary DNA strand synthesized continuously along the template strand toward the replication fork in the mandatory 5′ - 3′ direction. |
Lagging Strand | A discontinuously synthesized DNA strand that elongates by means of Okazaki fragments, each synthesized in a 5′ - 3′ direction away from the replication fork. |
Nuclease | An enzyme that cuts DNA or RNA, either removing one or a few bases or hydrolyzing the DNA or RNA completely into its component nucleotides. |
Telomeres | The tandemly repetitive DNA at the end of a eukaryotic chromosome’s DNA molecule. |
Chromatin | The complex of DNA and proteins that makes up eukaryotic chromosomes. |