isomer (iso-, "same" + -mer, "parts"):
structural isomer:
geometric isomer:
enantiomer:
functional group:
hydroxyl:
alcohol:
carbonyl:
aldehyde:
ketone:
carboxyl:
carboxylic acid:
amino:
amine:
sulfhydryl:
thiol:
phospate:
organic phosphate:
macromolecule (macro-, "large" + molecule): large molecules, e.g., proteins, polysaccharides, DNA
biochemistry: the branch of chemistry that deals with molecules synthesized by living beings
carbohydrate (carbo-, "carbon" + -hydr-, "water" + -ate, "derived from"): simple and complex sugars
lipid (Gk. lipos, "fat"): fats, oils and waxes
protein (L. "first place"): made of amino acids
nucleic acid (an acid found in the cell nucleus): DNA and RNA
monomer (mono-, "single" + -mer, "part"): subunits that collectively make up polymers
di- ("two")
poly- ("many")
dimer (di-, "two" + -mer, "parts") (e.g., disaccharide, dipeptide, dinucleotide)
polymer (poly-, "many" + -mer, "parts") (e.g., polypeptide, polysaccharide)
glucose (gluc-, "sweet" + -ose, ending for sugar): a simple sugar
fructose (fruct-, "fruit" + -ose): a simple sugar found in many fruit
glycosidic linkage: a covalent bond linking two monosaccharides, formed by condensation
maltose (malt + -ose): a disaccharide made of two glucose molecules; found in malt
sucrose (sucr-, "sugar" + -ose): table sugar; a disaccharide
condensation; also called dehydration synthesis (de-, "from, away" + -hydr-, "water" syn-, together + -thesis, "put, place": literally "to put together by taking away water"): the formation of a bond between monomers by the loss of a water molecule
hydrolysis (hydro-, "water" + -lysis, "to break"): the breaking apart of a polymer by the insertion of a water molecule
glycogen (glyco-, "sweet" + -gen, "producer, source"): the polysaccharide with which animals store glucose (plants use starch)
monosaccharide (mono-, "single" + -sacchar-, "sweet, sugar" + -ide, "thing" ["single sweet thang"]): simple sugar
peptide bond: a covalent bond linking two amino acids, formed by condensation
denature: to reduce a protein to its primary structure
triglyceride = neutral fat = triacylglyceride: fat molecules composed of three fatty acids and a glycerol
phospholipid: a lipid common in cell membranes
steroid: a lipid that includes as examples cholesterol and sex hormones
nucleotide: the monomer of nucleic acids, made of a phosphate group, a pentose sugar and a nitrogenous base
thymine (from thymus gland, where it was first isolated from)
cytosine (from cyto-, "cell", since it is in all cells)
adenine (from adeno-, "gland", also first found in the thymus)
guanine (from guano, whence it was first isolated)
transformation: the process of a bacterium taking up DNA from its surroundings and incorporating it into its genetic information
bacteriophage (bacterio- + -phage "to eat"): a type of DNA-containing virus that attacks bacteria
antiparallel: running in opposite directions to each other
double helix:
replication: the process of forming an exact copy of something
origin of replication: a special section of DNA where replication can begin
replication bubble:
replication fork: the site of active DNA replication
helicase: an enzyme that unwinds the DNA double helix prior to replication
elongation:
3' end:
5'end:
DNA polymerase: the enzyme that polymerizes nucleotides into DNA
leading strand: the strand of DNA that is growing in the same direction as replication
lagging strand: the strand of DNA that is growing (in segments) in the opposite direction as replication
Okazaki fragment: short (~100 to 2000 nucleotides long) segments of DNA in the lagging strand
DNA ligase (from L. ligare, "to tie"): enzyme that joins the ends of the Okazaki fragments together
RNA primase:
RNA primer:
pairing error:
mismatch repair:
thymine dimer:
excision repair:
histones:
nucleosomes:
scaffolding proteins:
the Central Dogma:
transcription: the transfer of information from a DNA molecule to an RNA molecule; the construction of a mRNA molecule based on the sequence of bases in a section of a DNA molecule
translation: the transfer of information from an RNA molecule to a polypeptide; the construction of a new polypeptide based on the sequence of bases in a mRNA molecule
DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid
RNA: ribonucleic acid
mRNA: messenger RNA
uracil: a nitrogenous base found only in nucleotides of RNA; replaces thymine of DNA
promoter region: the portion of DNA that binds with RNA polymerase to initiate transcription of a gene
initiation site:
RNA polymerase: the enzyme that performs transcription; it forms a polymer of RNA from free RNA nucleotides
terminator sequence: the portion of DNA that halts transcription of a gene
pre-mRNA:
RNA processing:
5' cap:
poly-A tail:
intron: the portion of eukaryotic mRNA that intervenes between the exons, and is clipped out and remains in the nucleus
exon: the portion of eukaryotic mRNA that is spliced together after the introns are clipped out, and exits the nucleus and is expressed
snRNP: small nuclear ribonuclear protein
triplet code: the grouping of nucleotides into threes to code for single amino acids
codon: three mRNA nucleotides in a strand of mRNA that specify a particular amino acid
tRNA: transfer RNA; small segments of RNA with amino acids attached to one end
anticodon: the three tRNA nucleotides that complement the codon on mRNA
aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase:
ribosomes: RNA/protein complexes that are the site of translation
rRNA: ribosomal RNA; special RNA that, along with several proteins, makes up the structure of a ribosome
aminoacid tRNA site (A site):
pepetide tRNA site (P site):
release factor:
polyribosome:
reading frame: the correct grouping of mRNA base triplets into codons
substitution: a type of mutation in which one DNA base is substituted for the correct one
insertion:
deletion:
neutral mutation: a mutation in which the resulting polypeptide is unchanged
missense mutation: a mutation in which the resulting polypeptide has some amino acids that differ from the unmutated form
nonsense mutation: a mutation where the stop codon is inserted early in the mRNA molecule ending transcription early
frameshift mutation: a mutation, such as an insertion or deletion mutation, in which the reading frame of part of the gene is incorrect, usually resulting in extensive missense
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