Term | Definition |
ribonucleic acid (RNA) | ribonucleic acid, a natural polymer that is present in all living cells and that plays a role in protein synthesis |
transcription | the process of forming a nucleic acid by using another molecule as a template; particularly the process of synthesizing RNA by using one strand of a DNA molecule as a template |
translation | the movement of a segment of DNA from one chromosome to another, which results in a change in the position of the segment; also the movement of soluble nutrients from one part of a plant to another |
protein synthesis | the formation of proteins by using information contained in DNA and carried by mRNA |
ribose | a five-carbon sugar present in RNA |
messenger RNA | messenger RNA, a single-stranded RNA molecule that encodes the information to make a protein |
ribosomal RNA | ribosomal RNA, an organelle that contains most of the RNA in the cell and that is responsible for ribosome function |
RNA polymerase | an enzyme that starts (catalyzes) the formation of RNA by using a strand of a DNA molecule as a template |
promoter | a nucleotide sequence on a DNA molecule to which an RNA polymerase molecule binds, which initiates the transcription of a specific gene |
termination signal | a specific sequence of nucleotides that marks the end of a gene |
genetic code | the rule that describes how a sequence of nucleotides, read in groups of three consecutive nucleotides (triplets) that correspond to specific amino acids, specifies the amino acid sequence of a protein |
codon | in DNA, a three-nucleotide sequence that encodes an amino acid or signifies a start signal or a stop signal |
anticodon | a region of tRNA that consists of three bases complementary to the codon of mRNA |
genome | the complete genetic material contained in an individual |