Chapter 8.4-8.7: Protein Synthesis

operon

a region of DNA that includes a promoter, an operator, and one or more structural genes that code for all the proteins needed to a specific task

mutagen

agents in the environment that can change DNA

mutation

change in the DNA sequence

anticodon

group of three bases on a tRNA molecule that are complementary to an mRNA codon

chromosomal duplication

mutation caused from crossing over in meiosis when the choromosomes don't line up properly, causing a one chromosome to have two copies of a gene or genes (which means the other chromosome may not have the gene at all!)

chromosomal deletion

mutation caused from crossing over in meiosis when the choromosomes don't line up properly, causing a one chromosome to not have a copy of a gene or genes (which means the other chromosome has two!)

gene point mutation

mutation in which one nucleotide is substituted for another; also known as a substitution

gene frameshift mutation

mutation that involves the insertion or deletion of a nucleotide in the DNA sequence; can be a deletion or insertion

chromosomal translocation

mutation where a piece of one chromosome moves to a nonhomologous chromosome

chromosomal inversion

mutation where part of a chromosome is reversed from its normal arrangement and looks like it has been flipped

intron

segment of a gene that does not code for an amino acid

exon

sequence of DNA that codes information for protein synthesis

promoter

A specific nucleotide sequence in DNA that binds RNA polymerase and indicates where to start transcribing RNA.

codon

A specific sequence of three adjacent bases on a strand of DNA or RNA that provides genetic code information for a particular amino acid

mRNA

A type of RNA, synthesized from DNA, that attaches to ribosomes in the cytoplasm and specifies the primary structure of a protein.

tRNA

An RNA molecule that functions as an interpreter between nucleic acid and protein language by picking up specific amino acids and recognizing the appropriate codons in the mRNA; also called transfer RNA

RNA polymerase

Enzyme that links together the growing chain of RNA nucleotides during transcription using a DNA strand as a template

nondisjunction

Error in meiosis in which homologous chromosomes fail to separate.

central dogma

Information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins to traits

rRNA

The most abundant type of RNA, which together with proteins froms the structure of ribosomes; also called ribosomal RNA.

protein synthesis

The process in which amino acids are arranged in a linear sequence through the processes of transcription of DNA and to RNA and the translation of RNA to a polypeptide chain.

translation

the process whereby genetic information coded in messenger RNA directs the formation of a specific protein at a ribosome in the cytoplasm

transcription

the process whereby the DNA sequence in a gene is copied into mRNA