Genetics Flashcards
(90 cards)
locus
unique chromosomal location
allele
alternative forms of the same locus
genotype
allele combination at a locus
haplotype
a combination of alleles on the same chromosome
homozygosity
2 identical alleles at a locus
heterozygosity
2 different alleles at a locus
dominant allele
shows its effect on the phenotype in heterozygosity
recessive allele
does not show its effect on phenotype in heterozygosity
codominant alleles
when both alleles are dominant; alleles have additive effects
germ-line mutation
affects the gametes (sperm or egg); can be passed on to offspring
Somatic mutation
affects somatic (i.e. body) cells only; cannot be passed on (not heritable) Somatic mutations result in mosaicism: the presence of cells with different genotypes
minor allele frequency
the frequency of the least abundant allele in a population
polymorphism
a ‘common’ variant with MAF >1%, does not imply phenotype
mutation
a ‘rare’ variant with MAF <1%
major allele is often referred to as ‘wild-type’ or ‘normal’
does not imply phenotype
main forms of human genetic variation
- Single nucleotide variation- -DNA replication and repair, most abundant
- Structural variation- DNA recombination
- Chromosomal abnormalities- chromosome segregation in mitosis/meiosis
allele frequency equation
frequency of A= # of A alleles in population/ total # of alleles in the population
odds ratio
odds of disease in presence of allele/ odd of disease in absence of the allele
Silent variant
nucleotide substitution in a coding sequence that does not result in amino acid change.
misssense variant
nucleotide substitution that causes one amino acid change
nonsense variant
nucleotide substitution that replaces the codon for an amino acid with a premature termination codon (Ter, Stop, X or *).
frameshifting
a variant that alters the triplet reading frame of mRNA (by inserting or deleting a number of nucleotides that is not a multiple of 3). Usually results in premature termination codon.
regulatory variant
a variant that affects gene expression through effects on a transcriptional regulatory element (e.g. promoter, enhancer).
exon skipping
Altered splicing results in the exclusion of exon sequences from the mature mRNA
intron retention
inclusion of intronic sequences