DNA, genes and chromosomes

Created by

Isa B-T

Cards (26)

Chromosome
A thread-like structure made of a long DNA molecule
Genome 
The complete set of genes in a cell
Gene 
A short section of DNA that codes for polypeptides and a functional RNA
Allele
An alternative form of a gene
Loci/locus 
The location of a particular gene on a chromosome
Chromatid 
One branch of a double stranded chromosome
Diploid
When a cell contains two copies of each chromosome
Haploid 
When a cell contains one copy of each chromosome
Nucleic acid 
A polymer made of nucleotides like RNA and DNA
DNA 
The molecule in cells that stores genetic information
Double helix 
The structure of a DNA molecule, two separate stands wound in a spiral
Genetic code
The sequence of base triplets in mRNA which codes for specific amino acids
Homologous pairs 
A chromosome that has identical genes to another chromosome but may have different alleles
Histones 
A protein that DNA is wound around to fit inside the nucleus
Nucleosomes 
DNA combined with histone proteins
The endosymbiotic theory is a hypothesis that primitive bacteria cells became part of eukaryotic cells millions of years ago. The evidence for this is that mitochondria and chloroplasts contain DNA similar to a prokaryote
The genetic code is universal, meaning that the same sequence of bases codes for the same amino acids in all organisms
There are 20 amino acids in the human proteome
The triplet code is degenerate, which means that each amino acid is coded for by more than one triplet
The genetic code is non-overlapping because an enzyme reads the bases in a triplet code is read only once
Proteome 
The full range of proteins a cell can produce
An organism's proteome is produced by expressed genes and this is gene expression
Gene expression 
When a gene is turned on and it produces a protein
Exons 
Sequences within a gene that code for amino acid sequences
Introns 
Non-coding sequences within a gene that separate exons
Prokaryotes don't have introns