From DNA to RNA - Lecture 8 Flashcards
What is a gene?
A genetic unit containing information to make a functional product
What is transcriptional regulation?
The process of DNA/genes becoming a protein
What information does a gene contain?
Structural - coding DNA
Temporal
Positional
Inducible
How are genes organised in prokaryotes?
Have a promotor,
Leader/spacer
and Cistron
What is a promotor in prokaryotes?
Defines the start site of transcription and the direction it will occur in
What is the leader/spacer in prokaryotes?
The section of DNA which is nontranslated
What is the cistron in prokaryotes?
A segment of DNA that corresponds to one polypeptide
How are genes organised in eukaryotes?
Have promotors,
enhancers,
introns and exons,
and an UTR
What is the enhancer in eukaryotic genes?
Sometimes away from the promoter
Contains binding sites for transcription factors
What are introns and exons in eukaryotic genes?
Introns are in the primary transcript but are removed in the mature transcript
Exons are in the mature transcript
What is the UTR in eukaryotic genes?
The untranslated region
What are DNA containing genes made of?
A coding strand (sense) and
A template strand (antisense)
Which direction do the coding and template strand go in?
Coding (sense) = 5’-3’
Template = 3’-5’
Which strand will mRNA be a copy of?
The sense strand (coding)
How does RNA polymerase know where to bind and what direction to go in?
Promotors have specific sequences that go in a specific direction
This tells the RNA polymerase where to bind and what direction to go
