Vocabulary
- Bacteriophage
- A virus that infects bacteria; also called a phage.
- DNA Ligase
- A linking enzyme essential for DNA replication; catalyzes the covalent bonding of the 3’ end of a new DNA fragment to the 5’ end of a growing chain.
- DNA Polymerase
- An enzyme that catalyzes the elongation of new DNA at a replication fork by the addition of nucleotides to the existing chain.
- Double Helix
- The form of native DNA, referring to its two adjacent polynucleotide strands wound into a spiral shape.
- Helicase
- An enzyme that untwists the double helix of DNA at the replication forks.
- Lagging Strand
- A discontinuously synthesized DNA strand that elongates in a direction away from the replication fork.
- Leading Strand
- The new continuous complementary DNA strand synthesized along the template strand in the mandatory 5’ ( 3’ direction.
- Mismatch Repair
- The cellular process that uses special enzymes to fix incorrectly paired nucleotides.
- Nuclease
- An enzyme that hydrolyzes DNA and RNA into their component nucleotides.
- Nucleotide Excision Repair
- The process of removing and then correctly replacing a damaged segment of DNA using the undamaged strand as a guide.
- Okazaki Fragment
- A short segment of DNA synthesized on a template strand during DNA replication. Many Okazaki fragments make up the lagging strand of newly synthesized DNA.
- Origin Of Replication
- Site where the replication of a DNA molecule begins.
- Phage
- A virus that infects bacteria; also called a bacteriophage.
- Primase
- An enzyme that joins RNA nucleotides to make the primer.
- Primer
- A polynucleotide with a free 3´ end, bound by complementary base pairing to the template strand, that is elongated during DNA replication.
- Replication Fork
- A Y-shaped region on a replicating DNA molecule where new strands are growing.
- Semiconservative Model
- Type of DNA replication in which the replicated double helix consists of one old strand, derived from the old molecule, and one newly made strand.
- Single-Strand Binding Protein
- During DNA replication, molecules that line up along the unpaired DNA strands, holding them apart while the DNA strands serve as templates for the synthesis of complementary strands of DNA.
- Telomerase
- An enzyme that catalyzes the lengthening of telomeres. The enzyme includes a molecule of RNA that serves as a template for new telomere segments.
- Telomere
- The protective structure at each end of a eukaryotic chromosome. Specifically, the tandemly repetitive DNA at the end of the chromosome’s DNA molecule.
- Topoisomerase
- A protein that functions in DNA replication, helping to relieve strain in the double helix ahead of the replication fork.
- Transformation
- A change in genotype and phenotype due to the assimilation of external DNA by a cell.
