8.3 SG Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is transcription?
The process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA
What is the central dogma of molecular biology?
It describes the flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein
What are the base pairing rules for RNA?
Adenine pairs with Uracil, and Cytosine pairs with Guanine
List the differences between DNA and RNA.
- DNA is double-stranded, RNA is single-stranded
- DNA contains Thymine, RNA contains Uracil
- DNA is stable, RNA is less stable
- DNA is primarily located in the nucleus, RNA can be found in the nucleus and cytoplasm
What are the parts of a eukaryotic gene?
- Enhancer
- Promoter
- Exons
- Introns
What is an enhancer?
A regulatory DNA sequence that increases the likelihood of transcription of a particular gene
What is a promoter?
A DNA sequence that initiates transcription of a gene
What are exons?
The coding regions of a gene that are expressed in the final RNA product
What are introns?
Non-coding regions of a gene that are removed during RNA splicing
What are the stages of transcription?
- Initiation
- Elongation
- Termination
What happens during the initiation stage of transcription?
The RNA polymerase binds to the promoter region of the gene
This marks the beginning of RNA synthesis.
What occurs during the elongation stage of transcription?
The RNA polymerase synthesizes RNA by adding nucleotides complementary to the DNA template
What happens during the termination stage of transcription?
The RNA polymerase detaches from the DNA and releases the newly synthesized RNA
Explain what happens during the splicing process.
Introns are removed, and exons are joined together to form a continuous coding sequence
Explain what happens during alternative splicing.
Different combinations of exons are joined together, allowing for multiple mRNA variants from a single gene
