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Chapter 11 Definitions
1. Gene expression: activation of a gene which leads to transcription and produces mRNA.
2. Genome: all the genetic material in an individual organism.
3. Structural gene: the genes that contain instructions for the making of polypeptides.
4. Promoter: the DNA segment that is known by the RNA polymerase enzyme. If the
operator allows it, this recognition will allow transcription.
5. Operator: DNA segment that controls access of the RNA polymerase to the promoter.
6. Operon: A unit containing genes that code for regulatory elements and specific products
that control the genes.
7. Lac Operon: has the fancy Lac in the front because the structural genes are coded for
regulating lactose. (Frowny face at Allen. –Michy.) The structural genes code for the
enzymes, and then those enzymes regulate the lactose. Jeez, Allen.
8. Repressor protein: restricts genes from being expressed.
9. Regulator genes: what codes repressor proteins.
10. Inducer: the molecule that starts gene expression.
11. Euchromatin: the uncoiled form of DNA where active transcription of DNA into RNA
takes place.
12. Introns: the transcribed BUT NOT YET translated sections of the structural genes.
13. Exons: the transcribed AND translated sections of the structural genes.
14. Pre-mRNA: form of mRNA that contains introns AND exons.
Pre-mRNA
15. Transcription Factor: regulatory proteins in eukaryotes.
16. Enhancers: sequences of DNA bound together by Transcription factors.