Chapter 1 Flashcards
(105 cards)
The information is encoded in DNA in sequences called ____ that code for proteins
genes
Gene expression can be regulated at several levels:
(1)Different genes may be transcribed
(2)DNA transcribed from a gene may be selectively processed to regulate which RNAs reach the cytoplasm to become messenger RNAs (mRNAs)
(3)mRNAs may be selectively translated (4)proteins made from the mRNAs may be differentially modified.
Genes are contained in a complex of DNA and proteins (mostly histones) called ____
chromatin
Basic unit of structure is the _____
nucleosome
Each nucleosome is composed of an octamer of ______ and approximately 140 base pairs of DNA
histone proteins
Nucleosomes themselves are joined into clusters by binding of DNA existing between nucleosomes (______) with other histone proteins (H1 histones)
(linker DNA)
Inactive state: chromatin appears as beads of nucleosomes on a string of DNA and is referred to as ______
heterochromatin
For transcription to occur, this DNA must be uncoiled from the beads. Uncoiled state, chromatin is referred to as ____
euchromatin
Genes reside within the DNA strand and contain regions called ___, which can be translated into proteins
exons
_____, which are interspersed between exons and which are not transcribed into proteins
Introns
Exons and introns, a typical gene includes the following: a _______ that binds RNA polymerase for the initiation of transcription;
promoter region
Exons and introns, a typical gene includes the following: a promoter region that binds ____ of transcription;
RNA polymerase
Exons and introns, a typical gene includes the following: a promoter region that binds RNA polymerase for the initiation of ____
transcription
The promoter region, where the RNA polymerase binds, usually contains the sequence TATA, and this site is called the ____
TATA box
In order to bind to this site, however, the polymerase requires additional proteins called_____, also have a specific DNA-binding domain plus a transactivating domain that activates or inhibits transcription of the gene whose promoter or enhancer it has bound.
transcription factors
____ are regulatory elements of DNA that activate utilization of promoters to control their efficiency and the rate of transcription from the promoter.
Enhancers
The _____, which participates in pancreas, eye, and neural tube development, contains three separate enhancers, each of which regulates the gene’s expression in the appropriate tissue.
PAX6 transcription factor
Sometimes, enhancers can inhibit transcription and are called ____
silencers
____ of cytosine bases in the promoter regions of genes represses transcription of those genes.
Methylation
one of the X chromosomes in each cell of female is inactivated (_____) by this methylation mechanism.
X chromosome inactivation
_____ is also responsible for genomics imprinting in which only a gene inherited from the father or the mother is expressed, whereas the other gene is silenced.
DNA methylation
DNA methylation is also responsible for _____ in which only a gene inherited from the father or the mother is expressed, whereas the other gene is silenced
genomics imprinting
The initial transcript of a gene is called ___ or sometimes premessenger RNA.
nuclear RNA (nRNA)
The initial transcript of a gene is called nuclear RNA (nRNA) or sometimes _____
premessenger RNA