nucleic acids and proteins

• Active transport is the net movement of dissolved substances across a cell membrane by an energy-requiring process that moves substances against a concentration gradient from a region of lower to higher concentration.
• Alpha helix: secondary structure, tight twist
• Alternative splicing is the production of different mRNA molecules from one kind of pre-mRNA through joining various combinations of exons from the pre-mRNA.
• Amino acids: sub units of proteins
• Anticodon is a sequence of three bases in a transfer RNA molecule that can pair with the complementary codon of a messenger RNA molecule.
• Beta-pleated sheet is a type of secondary structure in proteins that appears as folded sheets, with a change in direction of the polypeptide chain.
• Carbohydrate groups are molecules that are associated with the plasma membrane and are associated with cell to cell communication and signalling.
• Coding region is the part of a gene that contains the coded information for making a polypeptide chain.
• Coding strand is one strand of a DNA double helix that is complementary to the template strand.
• Codons are sequences of three bases in a messenger RNA molecule that contain information either to bring amino acids into place in a polypeptide chain or to start or stop this process.
• Degenerate is the property of the genetic code in which more than one triplet of bases can code or one amino acid.
• Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid consisting of nucleotide sub-units that contain the sugar deoxyribose and the bases A, C, G and T; DNA forms the major component of chromosomes.
• Endoplasmic reticulum is a cell organelle consisting of a system of membrane-bound channels that transport substances within the cell.
• Eukaryotes are any cells or organisms with a membrane-bound nucleus.
• Exons are parts of the coding region of a gene that are both transcribed and translated.
• Exon juggling is the production of different combinations of the exons in a gene transcript leading to different gene products from the same gene.
• Facilitated diffusion is a form of diffusion involving a specific carrier molecule for the substance.
• Flanking regions: regions located either downstream or upstream of the coding region of a gene.
• Fluid mosaic model is a model which proposes that the plasma membrane and other intracellular membranes should be considered as two-dimensional fluids in which proteins are embedded.
• Genetic code is the representation of genetic information through a non-overlapping series of groups of three bases (triplets) in a DNA template chain.
• Simple diffusion is the movement of substances from a region of higher concentration to one of lower concentration of that substance; that is, down its concentration gradient.
• Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) along with specific proteins make up ribosomes
• Template strand is one strand of a DNA double helix that is used to produce a complementary mRNA strand during transcription; sometimes called the sense strand.

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• Primary Structure: order of amino acids
• RNA polymerase is an enzyme that controls the synthesis of an RNA strand from a DNA template during transcription.
• RNA processing occurs after transcription and involves modifying pre-mRNA to form mature mRNA; also known as post-transcription modification.
• A plasma membrane is a partially permeable boundary of a cell controlling entry to and exit of substances from a cell.
• Random coiling is a type of secondary structure in proteins that does not fit in as either a alpha helix or beta-pleated sheet.
• Quaternary structure is the final level of protein structure in which multiple polypeptides join together to form a protein complex.
• Repressor: a protein produced by a regulatory gene that can bind to DNA and prevent transcription.
• Regulator genes: genes that produce proteins that control the activity of other genes.
• Phospholipids are the major type of lipid found in plasma membranes and the main structural component of plasma membranes.
• Proteomics is the study of the proteome, the complete array of proteins produced by an organism.
• promoter: region on the upstream flanking region where transcription factors and RNA polymerase bind to initiate transcription
• Proteins: macromoleculesmade of amino acid sub-units, linked by peptide bonds to form a chain, sometimes termed a polypeptide.
• Ribosomes: organelles that are sites of protein synthesis in cells in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes
• Spliceosomes: complex molecules present in the nucleus, remove introns from the pre-mRNA transcript.
• Proteome: the complete array of proteins produced by a single cell or an organism in a particular environment.
• Secondary structure: alpha helices, beta pleated sheets and random coils, depending on the R groups
• TATA box is a short base sequence consistently found in the upstream flanking region of the coding region of genes of many different species.