| A | B |
|---|
| chromatin | granular material visible within the nucleus; consists of DNA tightly coiled around proteins |
| histone | protein molecule around which DNA is tightly coiled in chromatin |
| replication | copying process by which a cell duplicates its DNA |
| DNA polymerase | enzyme involed in DNA replication that join individual nucleotide to produce a DNA molecule |
| gene | sequence of DNA that code for a protein and thus determines a trait |
| messenger RNA (mRNA) | RNA molecule that carries copies of instruction for the assembly of amino acids into proteins from DNA to the rest of the cell |
| ribosomal RNA (rRNA) | makes up the major part of the ribosomes |
| transfer RNA (tRNA) | type of RNA molecule that transfers amino acids to ribosomes during protein synthesis |
| transcription | process in which part of the nucleotide sequence of DNA is copied into a complementary sequence in RNA |
| RNA polymerase | enzyme similar to DNA polymerase that binds to dna and seperares the dna strands during transcription |
| promoter | region of DNA that indicates to an enzyme where to bind to make RNA |
| intron | sequence of DNA that is not involed in coding for a protein |
| exon | expressed sequence of DNA; codes for a protein |
| codon | three- nuceotide sequence on messenger RNA that codes for a single amino acid |
| translation | decoding of an mRNA message into a polypeptide chain |
| anticodon | group of three bases on a tRNA molecule that are are complementary to an mRNA codon |
| mutation | change in a DNA sequence that affects genetic information |
| point mutation | gene mutation involving changes in one or a few nucleotides |
| frameshift mutation | Muatation that shifts the "reading" frame of the genetic message by inserting or deleting a nucleotide |
| polyploidy | condition in which an organism has extra sets of chromosomes |
| operon | group of genes operating together |
| operator | region of chromosome in an operon to which the repressor binds when the operon is "turned off" |
| differentiation | process in which cells become specialized and fuction |
