Amplifying DNA fragments Flashcards
What is in-vivo cloning
This is where copies of the DNA fragment are made inside a living organism
What is a vector
A molecule that is used to transfer DNA into a cell (e.g. plasmids, bacteriophages)
What are bacteriophages
Viruses that infect bacteria
What is ligation
Where DNA ligase is used to join sticky ends from the DNA fragment to the vector
What is DNA ligase
It is used in ligation to join 2 sticky ends from a DNA fragment to a vector
What is recombinant DNA
Where the vector DNA and the DNA fragment have been joined together to form a strand
What are transformed host cells
Host cells that have taken up the vectors which contain the gene of interest
What are marker genes
They are genes that have been inserted into the vector as the same time as the gene to be cloned. They are used to identify transformed host celle
What can the marker gene be
- the marker gene can code for antibiotic resistance so any host cell that doesn’t not contain then marker gene will die
- the marker gene can be fluorescent so any gene that is not illuminated when UV light shines upon it is not a transformed host cell
What are promoter regions
They are DNA sequences that tell the enzyme RNA polymerase when to start producing mRNA
What are terminator regions
They are DNA sequences that tell the RNA polymerase when to stop producing mRNA
What is in-vitro amplification
Where DNA fragments are made outside of a living organism (using PCR)
What does PCR stand for
polymerase chain reaction
What are primers
They are short pieces of DNA that are complementary to the bases at the start of the fragment you want
What does anneal mean
Bind
