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TERMS DEFINITION

DNA helicase DNA helicases are essential during DNA

replication because they separate double-
stranded DNA into single strands allowing each
strand to be copied.
Replication fork The replication fork is a very active area where
DNA replication takes place. It is created when
DNA helicase unwinds the double helix structure
of the DNA. The replication fork looks like a fork
in the road that is composed of a leading strand
and a lagging strand of DNA.
Leading strand Parent strand. 3’ is free end. 5’ nearest to
replication fork. upstream
Lagging strand Parent strand. 5’ free end. 3’ nearest to
replication fork. Downstream
DNA ligase DNA ligase is a specific type of enzyme, a ligase,
that facilitates the joining of DNA strands
together by catalyzing the formation of a
phosphodiester bond.
DNA polymerase DNA polymerase is an enzyme that synthesizes
DNA molecules from deoxyribonucleotides, the
building blocks of DNA. These enzymes are
essential for DNA replication and usually work in
pairs to create two identical DNA strands from a
single original DNA molecule.
TATA box In molecular biology, the TATA box is a sequence
of DNA found in the core promoter region of
genes in archaea and eukaryotes.
Pribnobox - prokaryotes
A TATA box is a DNA sequence that
indicates where a genetic sequence can be
read and decoded. It is a type of promoter
sequence, which specifies to other molecules
where transcription begins.
Okazaki Fragments Okazaki fragments are short sequences of DNA
nucleotides (approximately 150 to 200 base pairs
long in eukaryotes) which are synthesized
discontinuously and later linked together by the
enzyme DNA ligase to create the lagging strand
during DNA replication.
tRNA Transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) is a type of RNA
molecule that helps decode a messenger RNA
(mRNA) sequence into a protein. tRNAs function
at specific sites in the ribosome during
translation, which is a process that synthesizes a
protein from an mRNA molecule.
rRNA Ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) is a noncoding
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type of RNA that acts as the primary building

block for ribosomes and the assembly line on
which protein synthesis occurs in those
ribosomes, essential to all living organisms.
Anticodon An anticodon is a trinucleotide sequence
complementary to that of a corresponding codon
in a messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence. An
anticodon is found at one end of a transfer RNA
(tRNA) molecule.
codon A codon is a sequence of three DNA or RNA
nucleotides that corresponds with a specific
amino acid or stop signal during protein
synthesis. DNA and RNA molecules are written in
a language of four nucleotides; meanwhile, the
language of proteins includes 20 amino acids.
Polypeptide Chain Polypeptide chains are polymers of amino acids
joined together with peptide bonds. These
peptide bonds are formed through condensation
reactions whilst the amino acids are being coded
for during translation. Whilst in polypeptide
chains, amino acids are known as residues.
RNA primase Primase is an enzyme that synthesizes short RNA
sequences called primers. These primers serve as
a starting point for DNA synthesis. Since primase
produces RNA molecules, the enzyme is a type of
RNA polymerase.
RNA polymerase RNA polymerase, abbreviated RNAP or RNApol,
officially DNA-directed RNA polymerase, is an
enzyme that synthesizes RNA from a DNA
template. RNAP locally opens the double-
stranded DNA so that one strand of the exposed
nucleotides can be used as a template for the
synthesis of RNA, a process called transcription.
Termination signal A termination signal is found at the end of the
part of the chromosome being transcribed during
transcription of mRNA. It is needed because only
parts of the chromosome are transcribed. The
beginning part is started at the promoter and
then ended at the termination signal.
5’ cap and 3’ poly a tail A 5' cap is added to the beginning of the RNA
transcript, and a 3' poly-A tail is added to the
end.
Splicing In splicing, some sections of the RNA transcript
(introns) are removed, and the remaining
sections (exons) are stuck back together.
Spliceosome A spliceosome is a large and complex molecular
machine found primarily within the nucleus of
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eukaryotic cells. The spliceosome is assembled

from small nuclear RNAs (snRNA) and
approximately 80 proteins. The spliceosome
removes introns from a transcribed pre-mRNA, a
type of primary transcript.
Introns An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a
gene that is removed by RNA splicing during
maturation of the final RNA product. In other
words, Introns are noncoding regions of an RNA
transcript, or the DNA encoding it, which are
eliminated by splicing before translation.
Exons An exon is any part of a gene that will encode a
part of the final mature RNA produced by that
gene after introns have been removed by RNA
splicing. The term exon refers to both the DNA
sequence within a gene and to the corresponding
sequence in RNA transcripts.
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