See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/333223339

TERMINOLOGY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING,

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, GENETICS AND BREEDING

Book · March 2019

CITATION READS

1 640

2 authors, including:

Prof.Dr. Md. Abdul Ahad

Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University
74 PUBLICATIONS 258 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Sociobiology theory of evolution of behaviour opposite evolution or not View project

The Neutral Theory and the Nearly Neutral Theory is opposite to molecular evolution View project

All content following this page was uploaded by A. S. M Anas Ferdous on 01 May 2022.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

1
 TERMINOLOGY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY,
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, MOLECULAR
BIOLOGY, GENETICS AND BREEDING

Prof. Dr. Md. Abdul Ahad

Professor
Department of Entomology
Hajee Mohammad Science And Technology University
Dinajpur,Bangladesh

A.S.M. Anas Ferdous

Student Of Biomedical Engineering
Bangladesh University Of Engineering and Technology

2
First Edition: March 2019

Copyright: Writer

Publisher:Himachal Publications Limited

Bishal Book Complex
Banglabazar, Dhaka

Price: 150 TK

3
 Dedicated To
Ruji Raihana Ferdous

4
 Preface
As a student of science and a researcher of evolutionary biology I have always felt an absence of a

book of this kind. Because during our study in Genetics, Biotechnology, Breeding, Biomedical

Engineering etc there are a lot of words that at first baffles us and as a result we cannot understand

that topic properly. You can argue that the internet might be a source to learn the meaning of these

words but sometimes all you need is just the definition and reading a whole webpage for this simple

reason might be a waste of time. In this book we have collected all the words related to the above

mentioned subjects. This book will help the students and the researchers of these particular fields to

efficiently understand these subjects.

5
A
A (aminoacyl) site: The site on the ribosome occupied by an aminoacyl-tRNA just previous to
peptide bond creation.

A- DNA: The form of DNA with more water content; it has litles base pairs and more base pair turn
than doses B-DNA.

Acentric chromosome: A chromosome with no centromere or chromosome fragment lacking of a

centromere.

Acentric fragment: A chromosomal part without a centromere.

Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging: An imaging technique that shoots short pulses of
ultrasound at targeted tissues and then monitors the tissue response in the form of shear waves that
can be measured, and displayed as elastography images. These measurements and images can be
used to diagnose or monitor the possible presence of diseased or cancerous tissue, based on the
measured stiffness properties of tissues such as breast or liver where areas of increased stiffness may
indicate the presence of tumors, fibrosis, scar tissue, and other types of disease or damage.

Acridin: A mutagen that interacts between the bases of a DNA molecule causing single-base
insertions or deletions.

Acrocentric chromosome: A modifying term for a chromosome or chromatid whose centromere

lies very near one end and improves its chance of survival and reproduction in its environment.

Acrosome: An apical organelle in the head of the sperm.

Activation energy: Free energy of activation (ΔĠ +)

Activator: Specific transcription factor that binds to an enhancer, often far upstream of a promoter in
a eukaryotic.

Active site: The part of an enzyme where the real enzymatic function is achieved.

Adaptation: Adjustment of an organism or a population to an environment and improves its a

chance of survival and reproduction in its environment.

Adaptive landscape: This theory proposed by Sewall Wright as a representation of the fitness of a
population in a topographic map in which contour height (i.e., the fitness value) is a function of allele
frequencies at many loci.

Adaptive mutation: Directed mutation.

Adaptive value: Fitness value.

6
Addition line: An addition line has one pair of chromosomes from anther variety or species in
addition to the normal somatic chromosome complement (2n) of the species.

Addition rule: The belief that the chance that any one of a set of mutually sole events is realized
equals the sum of the probabilities of the separate events.

Additive allelic effects: Generic factors that raise or lower the value of a phenotype on a linear scale
of measurement

Additive model: A mechanism of quantitative inheritance in which alleles at different loci either
enhance a quantity to the phenotype or enhance nothing.

Adenine (A): A nitrogenous purine base found in DNA and RNA.

Adjacent segregation: Type of segregation from a heterozygous reciprocal translocation in which a

structurally normal chromosome segregates with a translocated chromosome. In adjacent-l
segregation separation of centromeres during meiosis in a reciprocal translocation heterozygote so
that unbalanced zygote are produced; in adjacent-2 segregation. Homologous centromeres go to the
same pole of the first-division spindle.

Affected: Individuals in a pedigree that exhibit the specific phenotype under study.

Agglutinin: An antibody in blood plasma.

Agglutinogen: An antigen carried by red blood cells. When a specific antigen is inserted into an
animal body, it encouraged the production of a corresponding antibody.

Agronomic trials: Evaluation of new strains for release as a variety; an entry showing superior
performance in the first year of URT.

Albinism: Absence of melanin pigment in skin, hair, and eyes of an animal; absence of chlorophyll
in plants.

Alien-addition line: It has one pair of chromosomes from a related wild species in addition to the
normal somatic chromosome complement (2n) of the species.

Alkaptonuria: An Inherited metabolic disorder in which a defect in the breakdown of tyrosine leads
to excretion of homogenetisic acid (alkapton) in the urine. Alkaptonurics excrete excessive amounts
of homogentisic acid (alkapton) in the urine.

Alkylating agent: An organic compound able of transferring an alkyl group to other molecules.

All sites: Sites on phage and host DNA where recombination

7
Allele (allelomorph, allelic, allelomorpic): Any of the alternative forms of a given gene that occur
at a given locus in a chromosome. Alleles are symbolized with the same basic symbol (e.g., D for tall
peas and d for dwarf).

Allele exclusion: A process whereby only one immunoglobulin light chain and one heavy chain are
transcribed in any one cell; the other genes are repressed.

Allele frequency: The relative proportion of all alleles of a gene in a population.

Allolygote: A diploid individual in which the two genes of a particular locus are not the same by
descent from a common ancestor (Cf. Autozygote).

Allopatric speciation: Speciation in which the evolution of reproductive isolating mechanisms

occurs during the physical separation of the populations.

Allopolyploid: A polyploid having chromosome sets from different species. It produced by the
hybridization of two species. A polyploid containing genetically different chromosome sets derived
from two or more species.

Allosteric effect: Reversible communication of a small molecule with a protein molecule, causing a
change in the shape of the protein and a resulting alteration of the interaction of that protein with a
third molecule.

Allosteric protein: A protein whose shape is changed when it bind a particular molecule. In the new
shape, the protein’s ability to react to a second molecule is altered

Allotetraploid: An organism with four genomes derived from hybridization of different species.
Usually, in forms that become established, two of the four genomes are from one species and two are
from another species.

Allotype: Mutant of a nonvariant part of an immunoglobulin gene that follows the rules of simple
Mendelian inheritance.

Allozygosity: Homozygosity in which the two alleles are alike but unrelated, See autozygosity.

Allozymes: Any of the alternative electrophoretic forms of a protein coded by different alleles of a
single gene. In other words Forms of an enzyme, controlled by alleles of the same locus that differs
in electrophoretic mobility

Alpha satellite: Highly repetitive DNA sequences connected with mammalian centromeres.

8
Alternate segregation: Segregation from a heterozygous reciprocal translocation in which both pans
of the reciprocal translocation separate from both nontranslocated chromosomes in the first meiotic
division.

Alternative splicing: Various ways of splicing out introns in eukaryotic premessenger RNAs so that
one gene produces several different messenger RNA and protein products.

Alu family: A dispersed, intermediately repetitive DNA sequence found in the human genome about
300000 times. The sequence is about 300 bp long. The name Alu comes from the restriction
endonuclease that cleaves it.

Amber codon: UAG, coding for termination.

Amber mutation: nonsense mutation.

Amber suppressor: A tRNA bearing an anticodon that can recognize the amber codon (UAG) and
thereby suppress amber mutations

Ames test: A bacterial test for mutagenicity; also used to screen for potential carcinogens.

Amino acid: Any one of a class of organic molecules that have an amino group and a carboxyl
group; 20 different amino acids are the usual components of proteins. Any one of a class of organic
compounds containing me amino (-NH2 group and the carboxyl (-COOH) group. Amino acids are
building blocks of proteins. Alanine, proline, methonine, histidine, lysine, glutamine, phenylalanine,
tryptophan, valine, arginine, tyrosine, and leucine are among the common amino acids.

Amino tautomer: The normal tautomer of adenine or cytosine found in nucleic acids.

Amino terminus: The end of a polypeptide chain at which the amino acid bears a free amino group
(-NH2).

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases: Enzymes that attach amino acids to their proper transfer RNAs.

Aminoacylated t-RNA: A tRNA covalently attached to its amino acid; charged tRNA.

Amniocentesis: A procedure for obtaining fetal cells from the amniotic fluid from a pregnant
woman for the diagnosis of genetic abnormalities. Cells are cultured, and metaphase chromosomes
are examined for irregularities (e.g., Down syndrome).

Amniotic fluid: Liquid contents of the amniotic sac of higher vertebrates containing cells of the
embryo (not of the mother).

Amorph: A mutation that obliterates gene function; a null mutation.

9
Amphidiploid; An organism produced by hybridization of two species followed by doubling the
chromosomes in the F1 hybrid; an allopolyploid. In an amphidiploid the two species are known,
whereas in other allopolyploids they may not be known. It is an allotetraploid that appears to be a
normal diploid.

Amplification: Selective replication of a gene to produce more than the normal single copy in a
haploid genome.

Anabolic metabolism: The process of building up substances from relatively simple precursors. The
trp operon encodes anabolic enzymes that build the amino acid tryptophan.

Anagenesis: The evolutionary process whereby one species evolves into another without any
splitting of the phylogenetic tree.

Analysis of variance: Partitioning variation among data into its components by the computation of
suitable statistics.

Anaphase: A short stage of nuclear division in which the chromosomes move to the poles to
opposite ends of the spindle in anaphase I of meiosis homologous centromeres separate; in anaphase
II sister centromeres separate. The stage of mitosis or meiosis during which the daughter
chromosomes pass from the equatorial plate to opposite poles of the cell (toward the ends of the
spindle). Anaphase follows metaphase and precedes telophase.

Anaphase-promoting complex (APC): Protein complex that breaks down cyclin B and promotes
anaphase among its various roles in controlling the cell cycle. (Also called the cyclosome)

Androgen: A male hormone that controls sexual activity in vertebrate animals.

Anaemia: Abnormal condition characterized by pallor, weakness, and breathlessness, resulting from
a deficiency of hemoglobin or a reduced number of red blood cells.

Aneuploid (heteroploid): Not having the normal diploid number of chromosomes. An organism or
cell having a chromosome number that is not an exact multiple of the monoploid (n) with one
genome, that is, a hyperploid has a higher number (e.g., 2n + 1) and a hypoploid has a lower number
(e.g., 2n - 1). Also applied to cases where part of a chromosome is duplicated or deficient

Aneuploidy: The condition of a cell or of an organism that has additions or deletions of whole
chromosomes

Angiosperms: Plants whose seeds are enclosed within an ovary (Flowering plants).

10
Annapolis: A cell or organism in which the chromosome number is not an exact multiple of the
haploid number; more generally aneuploidy refers to a condition in which particular genes or
chromosomal regions are present in extra or fewer copies compared with wild type.

Annealing of DNA: The process of bringing back together the two separate strands of denatured
DNA to deform a double helix.

Angiography: A diagnostic X-ray imaging procedure used to see how blood flows through the blood
vessels and organs of the body. This is done by injecting special dyes, known as contrast agents, into
the blood vessel and using x-ray techniques such as fluoroscopy to monitor blood flow. Examples
include coronary angiography (heart), cerebral angiography (brain), and peripheral angiography
(hands, arms, feet and legs).

Antennapedia (Antp) mutants: Mutants of Drosophila in which a leg appears where an antenna
ought to be.

Antennapedia complex (ANT-C): A large genetic locus in Drosophila that contains several
homeotic genes, including Antenllapedia

Anthesis: The first opening of a flower.

Anti terminator: A protein, such as the N-gene product, that overrides a terminator and allows
transcription to continue.

Antibiotic-resistant mutant: A cell or organism that carries a mutation conferring resistance to an

antibiotic.

Antibody: A protein with the ability to recognize and bind to a substance, usually another protein,
with great specificity that protects the organism against antigens and helps the body's immune system
recognize and trigger an attack on invading agents.

Anticoding strand: The complement of the coding strand; the DNS standard that forms the template
both the transcribe messenger RNA and the coding standard.

Anticodon loop: The loop, conventionally drawn at the bottom of tRNA molecule, that contains the
anticodon.

Anticodon: The three base sequence on transfer RNA complementary to a codon on messenger
RNA.

Antigen: A foreign substance able to stimulate the production of antibodies and bound by an
antibody in an organism.

Antihemophilic globulin: Blood globulin that reduces the cloning time of hemophilic blood.

11
Anti-sense RNA: RNA that is made from the DNA strand that is complementary to the sense strand
of the DNA.

Antimutator mutations: Mutations of DNA polymerase that decrease the overall mutations rate of a
cell of an organism.
Anti-oncogene: A gene that acts to keep cell division in check; a gene that represses malignant
growth and whose absence results in malignancy (e.g., retinoblastoma)
Antiparallel: The chemical orientation of the two strands of a double-stranded nucleic add
molecule; the 5'-to-3' orientations of the two strands are opposite one another.

Antiparallel: The relative polarities of the two strands in a DNA double helix; if one strand goes 5'-
3', top to bottom, the other goes 3'-5'. The same anti parallel relationship applies to any double-
standed polynucleotide or oligonucleotide, including the RNAs in a codon-anticodon pair.
Antisense RNA: RNA product of mic (mRNA-interfering complementary RNA) genes that
regulates another gene by base pairing with, and thus blocking, its messenger RNA.
Antisense strand (anticoding strand): The complement of the sense strand. See anticoding strand.

Anti-sigma factor: A protein that interferes, with the action of a sigma factor.
Antiterminator protein: A protein that, when bound at its normal attachment sites, lets RNA
polymerase read through normal terminator sequences (e.g., the N- and Q-gene products of phage λ)
AP endonuclease: An endonuclease that cleaves a DNA strand at any site at which the deoxyribose
lacks a base.
Apogamy: Development of embryo (or seed) without fertilization.
Apopressor: A protein converted into a repressor by binding with a particular molecule.
Apoptosis: Genetically programmed cell death especially in embryonic development. A process by
which cells kill themselves according to a controlled pathway, usually for the good of the entire
organism.

Aporepressor: A repressor in an inactive form, without its corepressor.

Apurinic site (AP site): A deoxyribose in a DNA strand that has lost its purine base.
Archaea: Highly specialized, bacteria like organisms; also called archaebacteria they are unicellular
microorganisms usually found in extreme environments that differ as much from bacteria as either
group differs from eukaryotes that make up the third kingdom of life on earth along with the bacteria.
The eukaryotes identified by Carl Woese in 1977 based on ribosomal RNA sequences.

Arnes test: A test for mutagens developed by Bruce Ames, in which the rate of reversion of
auxotrophic bacterial strains (Salmonella) to prototrophy upon exposure to a chemical is taken as a
measure of the chemicals mutagenicity.
Artificial selection: Selection imposed by a breeder (selection by man), in which organisms of only
certain phenotypes are allowed to breed. The practice of choosing individuals from a population for
reproduction, usually because these, individuals possess one or more desirable traits
Ascospores: Haploid spores found in the Ascus of Ascomycete fungi such as Neurospora.
Ascus: The sac in Ascomycete fungi that holds the ascospores.
Asexual reproduction: Any process of reproduction that does not involve the formation and union
of gametes from the different sexes or mating types.
12
Assembly map: A scheme showing the order of addition of ribosomal proteins during self-assembly
of a ribosomal particle in vitro.

Assignment test: A test that determines whether a locus is on a specific chromosome by observing
the concordance of the locus and the specific chromosome in hybrid cell lines.
Assortative mating: Mating that is nonrandom with respect to the phenotypes in a population-that
is, where the probability of individuals of two given phenotypes mating is not equal to the product of
their frequencies in the population.
Assortative mating: The mating of individuals with similar phenotype.

Aster: Configuration at the centrosome with microtubules radiating out in all directions.
Asymmetric hybrids: plants or Cells produced through somatic hybridization, and containing the
full somatic complement of one fusion partner but only a part of the somatic complement of the
other.
Asymmetric transcription: Transcription of only one strand of a given region of a double-stranded
polynucleotide.

Asynapsis: The failure or partial failure in the pairing of homologous chromosomes during the
meiotic prophase.
Atavism: Reappearance of an ancestral trait after several generations because of recessiveness or
other masking effects.
Ataxia-telangiectasia: A disease in human beings caused by a defect in X-ray induced repair
mechanisms.

ATP (Adenosine triphosphate): An energy-rich compound that promotes certain activities in the cell.
ATPase: An enzyme that cleaves ATP. It is a releasing energy for other cellular activities.
Attached-X chromosome: A chromosome in which two X chromosomes are joined to a common
centromere; also called a compound- X chromosome.

Attenuation: A mechanism for controlling gene expression in prokaryotes that involves premature
transcription termination.
Attenuator region: A control region at the promoter end of repressible amino acid operons that
exerts transcriptional control based on the translation of a small leader peptide gene.
Attenuator stem: Terminator stem.
Attenuator: A nucleotide sequence (regulatory base sequence) in the 5' region of a prokaryotic gene
(or in its RNA) that causes premature termination of transcription, possibly by forming a secondary
structure.
A-type particles: Intracellular, noninfectious particles that resemble retroviruses. May be vehicles
for transposition of retrotransposons.
Autogamy: Self-pollination; a process of self-fertilization within one undivided cell, resulting in
homozygosity. This occurs in Paramecium cell similar to the changes that occur during conjugation.
Autonomous determination: Cellular differentiation determined intrinsically and not dependent on
external signals or interactions with other cells.

13
Autonomous: A term applied to any biological unit that can function on its own, that is, without the
help of another unit for example, a transposable element that encodes an enzyme for its own
transposition. (Cf. Nonautonomous)
Autonomously replicating sequence (ARS): Eukaryotic site of the initiation of DNA replication
consisting of an 11 base-pair consensus sequence and several other sequences covering 100-200 base
pairs.
Autopolyploid organism: An organism whose cells contain more than two sets of homologous
chromosomes, which identical or nearly identical sets of chromosomes (genomes). A polyploid
species with genomes derived from the same original species.
Autoradiograph: A record or photograph prepared by labeling a substance such as DNA with a
radioactive material such as tritiated thymidine and allowing the image produced by decay radiations
to develop on a film over a period of time. It is a technique in which radioactive molecules make
their locations known by exposing photographic plates, thus taking a picture of itselfs.
Autoregulation: Regulation of gene expression by the product of the gene itself.
Autosomal set: A combination of nonsex chromosomes consisting of one from each homologous
pair in a diploid species; where as autosome is the nonsex chromosomes; all chromosomes other than
the sex chromosomes.
Autozygosity: Homozygosity in which the two alleles are identical by descent (i.e. they are copies of
an ancestral gene).
Autozygote: A diploid individual in which the two genes of a locus are identical by descent from an
ancestral gene. (Cf. Allozygote.)
Auxotroph: A mutant microorganism (e.g., bacterium or yeast) that will not grow on a minimal
medium but that requires the addition of some compound such as an amino acid or a vitamin. In a
brief organisms that have specific nutritional requirement.

14
B
B- DNA: The right-handed, double-helical form of DNA described by Watson and Crick.

B1 and B2: Backcrosses of F1 to P1 (first parent) and p2 (second parent), respectively of the hybrid.

BAC: Bacterial artificial chromosome.

Back mutation: A reversion mutation that change in a nucleotide pair in a mutant gene that restores
the original sequence and hence the original phenotype.

Backcross breeding: A system of breeding whereby repeated backcrosses are made to one of the
parents of a hybrid, accompanied by selection for a specific character or characters; whereas a test
cross is the cross of an F1 heterozygote hybrid to one of the parental types or with an organism with
the same genotype as a parent. The offspring of such a cross are referred to as id1e backcross
generation or backcross progeny.

Bacterial artificial chromosome (BACs): A plasmid vector with regions derived from the plasmid
that contains a large fragment of cloned DNA. Artificial chromosome is used for sequencing that is
derived from bacterial fertility factors (F plasmid).

Bacterial lawn: A continuous cover of bacteria on the surface of a growth medium.

Bacteriophage (Bacterial viruses): A virus that infects or attacks bacteria; such viruses are called
bacteriophages because they destroy their bacterial hosts.

Balance: The condition in which genetic components are adjusted in proportions that give
satisfactory development. Balance applies to individuals and populations.
Balanced lethal: Lethal mutations in different genes on the same pair of chromosomes that remain
in repulsion because of close linkage or crossover suppression. In a population, only the trans-
heterozygotes (l1 +l+ I2 for the lethal mutations survive.

Balbinal rings (chromosome puffs): The larger polytene chromosomal puffs. Generally it is
synonymous with puffs.

Barr body (Heterochromatic body): Structure formed when the inactivated X chromosome is
heterochromatinized found in the interphase nucleus of certain cells of female mammals; it is named
for its discoverer Murray Barr.

Basal bodies: Microbule organizing center for cilia and flagella, composed of centrioles.

15
Base analog: Unnatural purine or pyrimidine base, differing slightly from the normal base, that it
can be incorporated into DNA.

Base excision repair: The DNA escision repair mechanism that replaces a nucleotide lacking its
base with a complete nucleotide. Glycolysis or the environment creates the AP (Apurinic and
apyrimidinic) necleotides.

Base flipping: It is a process whereby enzymes gain access to bases within the DNA double helix by
first flipping the bases out of the interior to the outside.

Base pair: A pair of nitrogenous bases (A-T or G-C), one in each strand, which occur opposite each
other in a double-stranded DNA or RNA; commonly abbreviated bp. The term is often used
interchangeably with the term nucleotide pair. The normal base pairs in DNA are A-T and G-C.

Base: Single-ring (pyrimidine) or double-ring (purine) component of a nucleic acid (DNA).

Base-substitution mutation: Incorporation of an incorrect base into a DNA duplex.

Basic number: The number of chromosomes in ancestral diploid ancestors of polyploids,

represented by z.
Basic Seed: Seed produced through mass selection (with progeny test) in a pureline variety or clone;
source of breeder seed.

Basic/helix-loop-helix/leucine zipper: A motif of proteins that bind DNA that consists of a series of
basic amino acids followed by a helix-loop-helix domain and then a leucine zipper.

BC1, BC2, BC3,-------------- : Progeny from F1  recurrent parent, BC1  recurrent parent, BC2 
recurrent parent, etc., respectively.

B-DNA: The standard Watson - Crick Model of DNA favored at high relative humidity and in
solution.

Beta (β) galactosidase: The enzyme that splits lactose into glucose and galactose; produced by a
gene in the lac operon.

Beta (β) galactoside acetyltransferase: An enzyme that is involved in lactose metabolism and
encoded by a gene in the lac operon.

Beta (β) galactoside permease: An enzyme involved in concentrating lactose in the cell (coded by a
gene in the lac operon).

Beta (β) lactamase: An enzyme that breaks down ampicillin and related antibiotics and renders a
bacterium resistant to the antibiotic.

16
Bidirectional DNA replication: Replication that occurs in both directions at the same time from a
common starting point, or origin of replication. It requires two active replicating forks.

Bilhorax complex (BX-C): A large genetic locus in Drosophilo containing several homeotic genes
that control segmentation in the fly's thorax and abdomen.

Binary fission: Simple cell division in single celled organisms.

Binomial expansion: Exponential multiplication of an expression consisting of two terms connected

by a plus ( + ) or minus (-) sign, such as (a + b)n.

Binomial formula: The probability that in a group of a given size. A certain number of individuals
will be one type and a certain number will be another type.

Biochemical genetics: The study of the relationships between genes and enzymes specifically the
role of genes in controlling the steps in biochemical pathways.

Biochemical pathway: A diagram showing the order in which intermediate molecules are produced
in the synthesis or degradation of a metabolite in a cell.

Biocompatibility: A measure of how a biomaterial interacts in the body with the surrounding cells,
tissues and other factors. A biomaterial is considered to have good biocompatibility if it does not
generate a vigorous immune response, resists build-up of proteins and other substances on its surface
that would hinder its function, and is resistant to infection.

Bioengineering: The application of concepts and methods of engineering, biology, medicine,

physiology, physics, materials science, chemistry, mathematics and computer sciences to develop
methods and technologies to solve health problems in humans.

Bioinformatics: The branch of biology that is concerned with the acquisition, storage, display and
analysis of biological information. Analysis of biological information includes statistical and
computational methods to model biological processes.

Biolistic: A method (biological ballistic) of transfecting cells by bombarding them with micro
projectiles coated with DNA.

Biological species concept: The idea that organisms are classified in the same species if they are
potentially capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.

Biometry: Application of statistical procedures to biological problems.

Biomedical Imaging: The science and the branch of medicine concerned with the development and
use of imaging devices and techniques to obtain internal anatomic images and to provide
biochemical and physiological analysis of tissues and organs.

17
Biomimetic :Using biological form and function seen in nature to inspire the design of solutions to
engineering problems.

Bioreactor: A manufactured or engineered device that provides an environment that supports

biological processes. Many bioreactors are used to grow cells or tissues for use in tissue engineering.

Biosensors :A device that uses biological material, such as DNA, enzymes and antibodies, to detect
specific biological, chemical, or physical processes and then transmits or reports this data.

Biotechnology: Utilization of biological agents or their components for generating products or

services for the welfare of mankind.

Bio-transformation: Conversion of a less useful compound into more valuable and useful one
through the action of an organism or (more precisely) by an enzyme produced by an organism.

Biotype: Distinct physiological race or strain within morphological species. A population of

individuals with identica1 genetic constitution or the same genotype. Biotypes may be homozygous
or heterozygous.

Bipartite: Consisting of two identifiable parts.

Bivalent: A pair of synapsed or associated homologous chromosomes each consisting two

chromatids, are paired in meiosis-I that have undergone the duplication process to form a group of
four chromatids (equivalent to a tetrad of chromatids).

Blastoderm: The outer layer of cell in an insect embryo after cleavage but before gastrulation. A
syncitial blastoderm gives way to a cellular blastoderm.

Blastomere: Anyone of the cells formed from the cleavages in animal embryology.

Blastula: The hollow ball stage of animal embryo formed early in development.

Block In a biochemical pathway: Stoppage in a reaction sequence due to a defective or missing

enzyme.

Blunt ends: Ends of a DNA molecule in which all terminal bases are paired; the term usually refers
to termini formed by a restriction enzyme that does not produce single-stranded ends.

Blunt-end ligation: The ligating or attaching of blunt-ended pieces of DNA by, for example, T4
DNA ligase. It is used in creating hybrid vectors.

Bottleneck: A brief reduction in the size of a population, which usual leads to random genetic drift.

18
Bouquet stage: A stage during zygonema in which chromosome ends, attached to the nuclear
membrane come to lie near each other.

Brachytherapy: A form of radiation therapy in which one or more small radioactive sources is
placed in or adjacent to an area requiring treatment. The dose rate and longevity of the radiation
source is chosen to reflect the treatment plan and whether the radioactive material is left in place
temporarily or permanently. A key feature of brachytherapy is that the radiation affects only a very
localized area around the radiation source. Brachytherapy is commonly used to treat prostate,
cervical and breast cancers.
Branch migration: The process in which a crossover point between two duplexes slides along the
duplexes.
Brain-Computer Interface:A system that uses the brain’s electrical signals to allow individuals
with limited mobility to learn to use their thoughts to move a computer cursor or other devices like a
robotic arm or a wheelchair.
Breakage and reunion: The general mode by which recombination occurs. DNA duplexes are
broken and reunited in a crosswise fashion according to the Holliday model.
Breakage-fusion-bridge cycle: Damage that a dicentric chromosome goes through during each cell
cycle.
Breeder seed: Seed produced by the agency or the institute sponsoring a variety and used to produce
foundation seed.
Breeding Value: In quantitative genetics, the part of the deviation of an individual phenotype from
the mean that is due to the additive effects of alleles.
Breeding: The art science of changing plants or animals genetically.
Bridging species: A species used in gene transfer from one species to another sexually incompatible
species; it may be a natural or synthetic species.
Broad-sense heritability: In quantitative genetics proportion of the total phenotypic variance that is
the genotypic variance. It is the ratio of genotypic variance to total phenotypic variance.

Bromodeoxyuridine: An analogue of thymidine that can be incorporated into DNA in place of

thymidine, and can then cause mutations by forming an alternate lautomer that base-pair with
guanine instead of adenine.
Bud mutation: Mutation in somatic tissues, affecting an axillary bud.
Bud selection: A form of clonal selection where mutant buds are selected.
Bulk breeding: The growing of genetically diverse populations of self-pollinated crops in a bulk
plot with or without mass selection, followed by single-plant selection.
Bulk method: In this method, F2 and the end, subsequent generations are grown in bulk, usually
without artificial selection. In the end, pureline varieties are developed through individual plant
selection.
Buoyant density of DNA: A measure of the density or size of DNA determined by the equilibrium
point reached by DNA after density gradient centrifugation.
Burst size: The difference between the final and initial phage concentrations in a cell; the number of
progeny phage produced by a single cell.

19
C
C-value paradox: The fact that the C value of a given species is not necessarily related to the
genetic complexity of that species.

C-value: The amount of DNA in picograms (trillionths of a gram) in a haploid genome of a given
species.

Calculus of the genes: Apparent calculation by the genes to determine when a particular altruistic
behavior is beneficial to inclusive fitness and hence worth doing.

cAMP-CRP complex: A regulatory complex consisting of cyclic AMP (cAMP) and the CAP
protein; the complex is needed for transcription of certain operons.

Cancer: An informal term for a diverse class of diseases marked by abnormal cell proliferation.

Cancer-family syndromes: Pedigree patterns in which unusually large numbers of blood relatives
develop certain kinds of cancers.

Candidate gene: A gene proposed to be involved in the genetic determination of a trait because of
the role of the gene product in the cell or organism.

Cap (catabolite activator protein (CAP)): A methylated guanosine (a protein) added to the end of
eukaryotic messenger RNA, activates operons that are subject 10 catabolite repression. It is also
known as CRP.

Cap binding protein (CBP): A protein that associates with the cap on a eukaryotic mRNA and
allows the mRNA to bind to a ribosome.

Capsid: The protein shell of a virus.

Capsomere: Protein clusters making up discrete subunits of a viral protein shell.

Carbon-source mutant: A cell or organism that carries a mutation preventing the use of a
particular molecule or class of molecules alasource of carbon.

Carboxyl terminus: The end of a polypeptide chain with a free carboxyl group (-COOH).

Carcinogen: A substance that causes cancer.

Carcinogenesis: The sequence of events that convert a normal cell to a cancer cell.

Carcinoma: Tumor arising from epithelial tissue (e.g. glands, breasts, skin, linings of the
urogenetical and respiratory systems).
20
Carrier: A heterozygote for a recessive allele that not expressed (i.e., obscured by a dominant
allele).

Cas-dominant: Of or pertaining to a mutation that affects the expression of only those genes on the
same DNA molecule.

Cassette mechanism: The mechanism by which homothallic yeast cells alternate mating types. The
mechanism involves two silent transposons (cassettes) and a region where these cassettes can be
expressed (cassette player).

Cassette: In yeast, either of two sets of inactive mating-type genes that can become active by
relocating to the MAT locus.

Catabolic metabolism: The process of breaking substances down into simpler components. The lac
operon encodes catabolic enzymes that break down lactose into its component parts, galactose and
glucose.

Catabolite repression: The repression of a gene by glucose or breakdown product of glucose, that
specify enzymes involved in catabolic pathways (such as the lac operon)

CCAAT box: An upstream motif, having the sequence CCAAT, found in many eukaryotic
promoters recognized by RNA polymerase II.

cDNA (Complementary DNA): A DNA copy of RNA, made by reverse transcription.

Cell cycle: The growth cycle of a cell; in eukaryotes, it is subdivided into G l (gap I), S (DNA
synthesis), G2 (gap2), and M (mitosis).

Cell fate: The pathway of differentiation that a cell normally undergoes.

Cell Reprogramming: Changing the function of a cell using chemical, protein or even mechanical
force. Most commonly, a cell, like a skin cell, may be treated with protein factors that reprogram it to
become a stem cell that can then be reprogrammed, with various protein or chemical factors, to
function as a different type of cell such as a liver, heart or nerve cell.

Cell type: The cycle of cell growth, replication of the genetic material and nuclear and cytoplasm
division.

Cell-free system: A mixture of cytoplasmic components from cells, lacking nucleic acids and
membranes. It is used for in vitro protein synthesis and other purpose.

Cellular immunity: Immunity controlled by killer and helper T-cells, which recognize infected
body cells and either cause the infected cells to destroy internal invaders or destroy the infected cells
directly.

21
Cellular oncogene: A gene coding for a cellular growth factor whose abnormal expression
predisposes to malignancy.

Centimorgan (Crossover unit, map unit): A chromosome-mapping unit. One centimorgan equals
1% recombinant offspring; also called map unit.

Central dogma: The original postulate of the way that genetic information is transferred from the
nucleotide sequence in DNA to the nucleotide sequence in an RNA transcript to the amino acid
sequence of a polypeptide chain.

Centres of origin: Areas where cultivated plant species are supposed to have originated and based
on centres of diversity.

Centric fragment: A piece of chromosome containing a centromere.

Centriole: Cylindered organelles, found in eukaryotes (except in higher plants) that appear to be
involved in the formation of the spindle during mitosis. It is also called basal bodies when they
organize flagella or cilia.

Centromere: Constricted region on the chromosome where spindle fibers are attached during cell
division; spindle-fiber attachment region of a chromosome. Also, the DNA sequence within the
constriction that is responsible for appropriate function.

Centromeric fission: Creation of two chromosomes from one by splitting at the centromere.

Centrosome: The spindle-microtubule organizing center in eukaryotes except for those, such as
fungi, that use spindle pole bodies to organize the spindles.

Certified seed: Seed used for commercial crop production, produced from foundation, registered, or
certified seed under the registration of legally constituted agency.
Chaged t-RNA: A tRNA molecule to which an amino acid is linked; acylated tRNA.

Chain elongation: The process of addition of successive amino acids to the growing end of a
polypeptide chain.

Chain initiation: The process by which polypeptide synthesis is begun.

Chain termination: The process of ending polypeptide synthesis and releasing the polypeptide from
the ribosome; a chain-termination, Mutation creates a new stop codon resulting in premature
termination of synthesis of the polypeptide chain.

Chaperon: Molecular chaperone.

22
Character: One of the many details of structure, form, substance, or function that make up an
individual organism resulting from the interaction of a gene or genes with environment.

Chargaff’s rule: Chargaff's observation that in the base composition of DNA, the quantity of
adenine equals the quantity of thyamine and the quantity of guanine equals the quantity of cytosine
(equal purine and pyrimidine content).

Charging: Coupling a t-RNA with its cognate amino acid.

Charon phages: A set of cloning vectors based on λ. Phage (phage lambda) derivatives used as
vehicles in DNA cloning.

Checkpoint: Used to describe points in the cell cycle that can be stopped if certain conditions are
not met.

Chemiluminescent techniques: Techniques in which various molecules after made visible when
exposed to ultraviolet or laser light if the molecules have a fluorescent tag.

Chemotaxis: Attraction or repulsion of organisms diffusing substance.

Chi-site: Sequence of DNA at which the RBCD protein cleaves one of the DNA strands during
recombination.

Chi-structure: The branched DNA structure formed by the first strand exchange during crossing
over.

Chiasma (chiasmata): X-shaped configurations seen in tetrads during the later stages of prophase I
of meiosis. They represent physical crossovers. In the diplotene stage of meiotic the four chromatids
of a bivalent are associated in pairs, of in such a way that one part of two chromatids in exchanged.
This point of “change of partner” is the chiasma. It is the physical evidence of recombination.

Chimera (mosaics): Individuals made up of two or more cell lines by experimental intervention in
which the cells originated in different zygotes.

Chimera (plant): Part of a plant with a genetically different constitution as compared with other
parts of the some plant. It may result from different zygotes that grow together or from artificial
fusion (grafting); it may be either permits with parallel layers of genetically different tissues or
succerial.

Chimeric gene: A gene produced by recombination, or by genetic engineering, that is a mosaic

DNA sequence from two or more different genes chi-square (x2 A statistical quantity calculated to
assess the goodness of fit between a set of observed numbers and the theoretically expected numbers.

23
Chimeric plasmid: Hybrid, or genetically mixed, plasmid used in DNA cloning.

Chi-square test: A statistical test to determine if the observed numbers deviate from those expected
under a particular hypothesis. It is often expressed as χ2 test.

Chloramphenicol: An antibiotic that kills bacteria by inhibiting the peptidyl transferase reaction
catalyzed by 50S ribosome.

Chloroplast: The organelle that carries out photosynthesis and starch grain formation.

Chromatid interference: In meiosis, the effect that crossing-over between one pair of nonsister
chromatids may have on the probability that a second crossing-over in the same chromosome will
involve the same or different chromatids; chromatid interference does not generally occur.

Chromatids: The subunits of a chromosome prior to anaphase of meiosis or mitosis. At anaphase of

meiosis II or mitosis, when the sister chromatids separate, each chromatid becomes a chromosome.

Chromatin assembly factors: Proteins involved in the construction of nucleosomes.

Chromatin remodeling: The change in the structure or positioning of nucleosomes, usually to allow
transcription.

Chromatin: The nucleoprotein material of the eukaryotic chromosome composed of DNA and
chromosomal proteins (DNA and histone proteins, the deoxyribonucleohistone) that makes up a
eukaryotic chromosome.

Chromatography: A method for separating and identifying the components from mixtures of
molecules having similar chemical and physical properties.

Chromatosome: The core nucleosome plus the protein, a unit that includes approximately 168 base
pairs of DNA.

Chromocenter: Body produced by fusion of the heterochromatic regions of the chromosomes in the
polytene tissues (e.g., the salivary glands) of certain Diptera.

Chromomere: Dark regions of chromatin condensation in eukaryotic chromosomes at meiosis,

mitosis, or endmitosis. It described by J. Belling, which is identified by their characteristic size and
linear arrangement along a chromosome. A tightly coiled, bead-like region of a chromosome most
readily seen during the pachytene substage of meiosis; the beads are in register in a polytene
chromosome, resulting in the banded, appearance of the chromosome.

Chromonema (pl., chromonemata): An optically single thread forming an axial structure within
each chromosome.

24
Chromosomal theory of inheritance: The theory that chromosomes are linear sequences of genes.

Chromosome aberration: Abnormal structure or number of chromosomes; includes deficiency,

duplication, inversion, translocation, aneuploidy, polyploidy, or any other change from the normal
pattern.

Chromosome banding: staining of chromosomes in such a way that light and dark areas occur
along the length of the chromosomes. Lateral comparisons identify pairs. Each human chromosome
can be identified by its banding pattern.

Chromosome complement: The set of chromosomes in an organism.

Chromosome jumping: A technique for isolating clones from a genomic library that is not
contiguous but skips a region between known points on the chromosome. This is usually done to
bypass regions that are difficult or impossible to "walk" through or regions known not to be of
interest.
Chromosome map: A diagram showing the locations and relative spacing of genes along a
chromosome.
Chromosome painting: Use of differentially labeled chromosome-specific DNA strands for
hybridization with chromosomes to label each chromosome with a different color. It is a variant of
the technique known as fluorescent in situ hybridization. Fluorescent dyes, attached to numerous
nucleotide probes, give each human chromosome a different fluorescent signature.

Chromosome puffs: Diffuse uncoiled regions in polytene chromosomes where transcription is

actively taking place.

Chromosome theory of inheritance: The theory that genes are contained in chromosomes in other
words the theory that chromosomes are the cellular objects that contain the genes.

Chromosome walking: A technique for studying segments of DNA, larger than can be individually
cloned by using overlapping cloned DNA.

Chromosome: Darkly staining nucleoprotein bodies that are observed in cells during division. Each
chromosome carries a linear array of genes, composed largely of DNA, that contain the genes of an
organism. In eukaryotes a DNA molecule that contains genes; in linear order to which numerous
proteins are bound and that has a telomere at each end and a centromere; in prokaryotes the DNA is
associated with fewer proteins lacks telomeres and a centromere, and is often circular; in viruses the
chromosome is DNA or RNA, single- stranded or double-stranded, linear or circular and often free
of bound proteins.

25
Cilium (cilia): Hairlike locomotor structure on certain cells; a locomotor structure on a dliate
protozoan.

Circular permutation: A permutation of a group of elements in which the elements are in the same
order but the beginning of the sequence differs.

Cis-configuration (Cis heterozygote): The arrangement of linked genes in a double heterozygote in

which both mutations are present in the same chromosome-for example a 1 a2 + +; also called
coupling.

Cis-trans test: A test to see whether two mutation, are true alleles, (located in the same gene) or
pseudoalleles (located in different gene). When the mutations are in cis position, wild-type behavior
is always observed if the mutation, are pseudoalleles, but mutant behavior is observed if they are
alleles.

Cis: Meaning “on the near side of”; refers to geometric configurations of atoms or mutants on the
same chromosome.

Cis-acting: A term that describes a genetic element, such as an enhancer, a promoter, or an operator,
that must be on the same chromosome in order to influence a gene's activity.

Cis-arrangement: Coupling.

Cis-dominant: Mutants (e.g., of an operator) that control the functioning of gene on the same piece
of DNA. For example, an operator constitutive mutation in one copy of the lac operon of a
merodiploid E. coli cell is dominant with respect to that copy of the lac operon, but not to the other.

Cis-trans complementation test: A mating test to determine whether two mutants on opposite
chromosomes complement each other; a test for allelism.

Cistron: A DNA sequence specifying a single genetic function as defined by a complementation

test; a nucleotide sequence coding for a single polypeptide. A genetic unit defined by the cis-trans
test. For all practical purposes, it is synonymous with the word gene.

Cladogenesis (anagenesis): The evolutionary process whereby one species splits into two or more
species.

Classical linkage map: A chromosomal map, measured in centimorgans, based on genetic crosses to
locate the relative distances between genes and their relative locations on chromosomes.

Clastogen: An agent that causes DNA strand breaks.

26
ClB method: A genetic procedure used to detect X-linked recessive lethal mutations in Drosophila
melanogaster; so named because one X chromosome In the female parent is marked with an
inversion (C), a recessive lethal allele (I), and the dominant allele for Bar eyes (B).

Cleavage division: Mitosis in the early embryo.

Cleistogamy: No anthesis, flowers do not open at all.

Clinal selection: Selection that changes gradually along a geographic gradient.

Clinical Decision Support System: An interactive software-based system designed to assist

physicians and other health professionals as well as patients with diagnostic and treatment decisions
and reminders. The system compiles and analyzes medical information from raw data, health
observations, and other medical information sources.

Clonal evolution theory: The theory that cancer develops from sequential changes (mutations) in
the genome of a single cell.

Clonal selection: A method of selection based on clones. It does not involve sexual reproduction.

Clone: A group of organisms derived by vegetative propagation from a single original individual by
an asexual process so that they are genetically identical to the original individual; in genetic
engineering the linking of a specific gene or DNA fragment to a replicable DNA molecule such as a
plastid or phage DNA.. In molecular biology, a strain of organisms that carries a particular DNA
sequence.

Cloned DNA sequence: A DNA fragment inserted into a vector and transformed into a host
organism.

Cloned gene: A DNA sequence incorporated into a vector molecule capable of replication in the
same or a different organism.

Cloning: It is the process of producing cloned genes.

Closed promoter complex: The complex is formed by relatively loose binding between RNA
polymerase and a prokaryotic promoter. It is “closed” in the sense that the DNA duplex remains
intact, with no “opening up,” or melting of base pairs.

Combining ability: General, average performance of a strain in a series of crosses. Specific,

deviation from performance predicted on the basis of general combining ability.
Coding region: The part of a DNA sequences that code for the amino acids in a protein.

Coding sequence: A region of a DNA strand with the same sequence as is found in the codregion of
a messenger RNA except that T is present in DNA instead of U.

27
Coding strand: The DNA strand (the polynucleotide strand) with the same sequence as the
transcribed messenger RNA.

Codominance: The expression of both alleles in a heterozygote.

Codominant: Two alleles whose phenotypic effects are both expressed in the heterozygote.

Codon preference: The idea that for amino acids with several codons one or a few are preferred and
are used disproportionately. They would correspond with abundant, transfer RNAs.

Codons: The sequences of three RNA or DNA nucleotides that specify either an amino acid or
termination of translation.

Coefficient of coincidence: An experimental value obtained by dividing the observed number of

double recombinants by the expected number calculated under the assumption that the two events
take place independently.

Coefficient of coincidence: The number of observed double crossovers, divided by the number
expected based on the independent occurrence of crossover.

Coefficient of relationship: The proportion of alleles held in common by two related individuals.

Coefficient: A number expressing the amount of some effect under certain conditions (e.g.
coefficient of inbreeding).

Coenzyme: A substance necessary for the activity of an enzyme.

Cohesion: Proteinaceous complex that holds sister chromatids together until anaphase of mitosis.

Cohesive end: A single-stranded region at the end of a double stranded DNA molecule that can
adhere to a complementary single- stranded sequence at the other end or in another molecule.

Coincidence: The ratio of the observed frequency of double crossovers to the expected frequency,
where the latter is calculated by assuming that the two crossover events occur independently of each
other.

Cointegrate: A DNA molecule formed by the fusion of two different DNA molecules. It is an
intermediate structure in transposition.

Col plasmids (Colicinogenic factors): Plasmids that produce antibiotics (colicinogens) that the host
uses to kill other strain of bacteria.

Colchicine: A chemical (An alkaloid) derived from the autumn crocus that used as an agent to arrest
spindle formation that prevents formation of the spindle in clear division ( interrupt mitosis).

28
Colinearity: A relationship between a gene and its protein product in which the distance between
any two mutations is directly proportional to the distance between the corresponding altered amino
acids. The linear correspondence between the orders of amino acids in a polypeptide chain and the
corresponding sequence of nucleotides in the DNA molecule; for example, the nucleotides in a gene
are collinear with the amino acid in the polypeptide encoded by that gene.

Colony hybridization assay: A procedure for selecting or a technique for identifying colonies of a
bacterial clone containing a gene of interest. DNAs from a large number of clones are simultaneously
tested with a labeled probe that hybridizes to the gene of interest.

Colony: A visible cluster of cells formed on a solid growth medium by repeated division of a single
parental cell and its daughter cells.

Color blindness: In human beings, the usual form of color blindness is X-linked red-green color
blindness. Unequal crossing-over between the adjacent red and green opsin pigment genes results in
chimeric opsin genes that cause mild or severe green-defects (deuteranomaly or deuteranopia,
respectively) and mild or severe red-vision defects (protanomaly or protanopia, respectively).

Combination breeding: It involves the transfer of one or a few characters, usually governed by
oligogenes, from one variety into another.

Combinatorial control: Transcriptional control in eukaryotes, which involves a large number of

polypeptides, many of which recognize specific DNA sequences and are used in various
combinations to control the expression of a much larger number of genes.

Common ancestry: The shared genetic inheritance of two individuals who are blood ancestor, their
offspring will be inbreeding.

Common garden experiment: Growing organisms of different types in the same environment to
determine whether the differences are genetic or environmental.

Compensasome: The multi subunit dosage compensation complex in Dorsophila with attendant
RNAs.

Competence: Ability of a bacterial cell to incorporate DNA and become genetically transformed.

Competence factor: A surface protein that binds extra cellular DNA .

Competitivebility: The ability of a genotype to survive in a mixture of several genotypes.

Complementarity: The correspondence of DNA bases in the double helix so that adenine in one
strand is opposite thymine in the other strand and cytosine in one strand is opposite guanine in the
other. This relationship explains Chargaffs rule.
29
Complementary DNA (cDNA): A DNA molecule synthesized by copying RNA with reverse
transcriptase.

Complementary polynucleotide strands: Two strands of DNA or RNA that have complementary
sequences; that is, wherever one ha, an adenine the other has a thymine, and wherever one has a
guanine the other has a cytosine.

Complementation group: A group of mutations that fail to complement one another thus
demonstrating that their mutations all lie in the same gene.

Complementation test (cis-trans test): A genetic test to determine whether two mutations are
alleles (are present in the same functional gene). Introduction of two recessive mutations into the
same cell but on different chromosomes to determine whether they are alleles of the same gene, that
is, whether they affect the same genetic function. If the mutations are allelic, the genotype m1 +/+ m2
will exhibit a mutant phenotype, whereas if they are nonallelic, it will exhibit the wild phenotype.

Complementation: The phenomenon in which two recessive mutations with similar phenotypes
result in a wild type phenotype when both are heterozygous in the same genotype; complementation
means that the mutations are in different genes.

Complete medium: A culture medium that is enriched to contain all of the growth requirements of a
strain of organisms.

Complex cross: Convergent Cross.

Complex trait: A multifactorial trait influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors, each
of relatively small effect, and their interactions.

Component of fitness A particular aspect in the life cycle of an organism upon which natural
selection acts

Composite cross: A hybrid population generated from a large number of purelines either by
compositing equal seeds from the F1 or F2 generations from all possible crosses among them, by
ordering them into a complex cross, or allowing them to cross with a genetic male sterile line and
harvesting the seeds from only the male sterile plants in each generation.

Composite transposon: A bacterial transposon composed of two types of parts: two arms containing
IS or IS-like elements and a central region comprised of the genes for transposition and one or more
antibiotic resistance genes.

Composite varieties: Varieties produced by open-pollination among a number of outstanding strains

usually not tested for combining ability with each other.

30
Computed Tomography: A computerized X-ray imaging procedure in which a narrow beam of X-
rays is aimed at a patient and quickly rotated around the body, producing signals that are processed
by the machine’s computer to generate cross-sectional images—or “slices”—of the body. These
slices are called tomographic images and contain more detailed information about the internal organs
than conventional X-rays.
Concatemers: A DNA of multiple genome length.
Concordance: The amount of phenotypic similarity between individuals; for example, Identical
twins both expressing the same genetic syndrome.

Condensin: A protein complex including SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) proteins

needed for the condensation of interphase chromosomes to mitotic chromosomes.

Conditional lethal: A mutation that is lethal under certain circumstances but not under others (e.g., a
temperature-sensitive mutation).

Conditional mutation: A mutation that results in a mutant phenotype under certain (restrictive)
environmental conditions but results in a wild type phenotype under other (permissive) conditions.

Conditional probability: The probability of an event occurring dependent upon given

circumstances.
Conditional-lethal mutant: A number that is lethal under one condition but not lethal under
another.

Confidence limits: A statistical term for a pair of numbers that predicts the range of values within
which a particular parameter lies.

Conidium (pl., conidia): An asexual spore produced by a specialized hypha in certain fungi.

Conjugation of bacteria: A process whereby two cells come in contact and exchange genetic
material. In prokaryotes, the transfer is a one-way process. It is a process of DNA transfer in sexual
reproduction in certain bacteria; in E. coli, the transfer is unidirectional, from donor cell to recipient
cell; also, a mating between cells of Paramecium.

Consanguineous: Meaning “between blood relatives” usually refers to a mating between related
individuals (inbreeding or incestuous matings).

Consanguinity: Related by descent from a common ancestor.

Consensus sequence: A sequence of the common nucleotides found in many different DNA or RNA
samples of homologous region (e.g., promoters). For example, the consensus sequence of the 10 box
of an E. coli promoter is TATAAT. This means that if you examine a number of such sequences, T is
most likely to be found in the first position, A in the second, and so forth.

31
Conservation genetics: An effort to maintain genetic variation in a species by managing natural or
seminatural populations or by collecting and storing diverse genetic types of a species.

Conservative replication: A postulated mode of DNA (or RNA) replication in which both parental
strands remain together. Producing of a progeny duplex both of whose strands are new.

Conservative transposition: A transposition in which both strands of the transposon DNA are
conserved as they leave their original location and move to the new site.

Conserved sequence: A base or amino acid sequence that changes very slowly in the course of
evolution. This sequence found in many different DNA or RNA a sample (e.g., promoters) that is
invariant the sample.

Constant antibody region: The part of the heavy and light chains of an antibody molecule that has
the same amino acid sequence among all antibodies derived from the same heavy-chain and light-
chain genes.

Constant region: The region of an antibody that is more or less the same from one antibody to the
next.

Constitutive enzyme: An enzyme that is produced in fixed quantities regardless of need (Cf.
Inducible enzyme and Repressible enzyme).

Constitutive heterochromatin: Heterochromatin that surrounds the centromere.

Constitutive mutant: An organism containing a constitutive mutation; a mutant whose transcription

is no longer under regulatory control.

Constitutive mutation: A mutation that causes a gene to be expressed at all times regardless of
normal controls.

Constitutive: Always turned on.

Contig: A group of (A set of) cloned DNAs containing contiguous or overlapping sequences in such
a way as to provide unbroken coverage of a contiguous region of the genome; a contig contains no
gaps. In other words it is a ‘Genomic library’ of overlapping contigous cloes that cover complete
region of a chromosome.

Contiguous control: A check variety planted in an adjacent plot; a design for the evaluation of a
large number of lines/progenies.

Continuous replication: In DNA, uninterrupted replication in the 5’ to 3’ direction using a 3’ to 5’

template.

32
Continuous trait: A trait in which the possible phenotypes have a continuous range from one
extreme to the other rather than falling into discrete classes.

Continuous variation: Variation measured on a continuum rather than in discrete units or

categories. Multiple genes are usually responsible for this type of variation (e.g., height in human
beings).

Contrast agent: A substance used to enhance the imaged appearance of structures, processes or
fluids within the body in biomedical imaging
Controlling element: In maize, a transposable element such as Ac or Ds that is capable of
influencing the expression of a nearby gene.

Co-varience: The mean of the product of the deviation of two varieties from their individual means.
Convergent varietal trial: Multilocatoin trials (usually for two years) conducted under the
respective all India Coordinated Crop Improvement Projects from the evaluation of the performance
of newly developed strains; in many crops, one year of IET precedes CVT.
Co-ordinate gene: Any of a group of genes that establish the basic anterior-posterior and dorsal-
ventral axes of the early embryo.

Co-ordinate regulation: Control of synthesis of several proteins by a single regulatory element; in

prokaryotes, the proteins are usually translated from a single mRNA molecule.

Co-ordinate repression: Correlated regulation of the structural genes in an operon by a molecule

that interacts with the operator sequence.

Copia: A transposable element found in Drosophila cells.

Copolymers: Mixtures consisting of more than one monomer; for example, polymers of two kinds
of organic bases such as uracil and cytosine (poly-UC) have been combined for studies of genetic
coding.

Core element: An element of the eukaryotic promoter recognized by RNA polymerase I. Includes
the bases surrounding the transcription start site.

Core particle: The aggregate of histones and DNA in a nucleosome, without the linking DNA.

Core polymerase: RNA polymerase core.

Co-repressor: A small molecule that binds with an aporepressor to create a functional repressor
molecule (e.g. Tryptophan is the corepressor of the trp operon).

Correlated response to selection: Change in one or more quantitative characters due to a selection
for another character.
33
Correlated response: Change of the mean in one trait in a population accompanying selection for
another trait.

Correlation: A statistical association between variables.

Correlation coefficient: A measure of association between pairs of numbers equaling the covariance
divided by the product of the standard deviations. It is a statistic that gives a measure of how closely
two variables are related.

Cos: The cohesive ends of the linear λ phage DNA

Cosmid: A hybrid plasmid that contains cos sites at each end or a vector designed for cloning large
DNA & fragments. A cosmid contains the cos sites of λ phage (lambda phages) so it can be packaged
into A head, and a plasmid origin of replication so it can replicate as a plasmid.

Cot: The product of DNA concentration and time of annealing in a DNA renaturation experiment.

Cotransduction: The simultaneous transduction of two or more genes. It is a transduction of two or

more genetic markers in the same virus.

Cotransformation: Transformation in bacteria of two genetic markers carried on a single DNA

fragment.

Counterselected marker: A mutation used to prevent growth of a donor cell in an Hfr x F- bacterial
mating.

Coupled transcription: Translation in prokaryotes, the translation of a mRNA molecule before its
transcription is completed.

Coupling (cis-arrangement; cis configuration): Allelic arrangement in which mutants are on the
same chromosome and wild-type alleles are on the homologue e.g., a b/a b x + +/+ + produces a b/+
+ (Cf. Re- pulsion).

Co-variance: A measure of the statistical association between variables; a measure of association

between pairs of numbers that is defined as the average product of the deviations from the respective
means.

CpG Islands: Stretches of CG repeats (in which CpG indicates sequential base on the same strand of
DNA, rather than a C-G base pair). These repeats, found in imprinting centers, are important in
regulation.

Crisscross pattern of inheritance: The phenotypic pattern of inheritance controlled by X-linked

recessive alleles,

34
Cro: The product of the lambda cro gene. A repressor that binds preferentially to OR3 and turns off
the lambda repressor gene (c/)

Crossbreeding (Cross-fertilization): It is the mating between the members of different races or

species.

Crossing over: A process in which homologous chromosomes exchange parts by a breakage-and-

reunion process that takes place in meiosis I. that results in the recombination of linked genes. It is
also called recombination

Crossover suppression: The apparent lack of crossing over within an inversion loop in
heterozygotes. It is usually found due to mortality of zygotes carrying defective crossover
chromosomes rather than to actual suppression.

Crossover unit: A measure of distance on genetic maps that is based on the average number of
crossing-over occasions that take place during meiosis. A map interval that is one crossover unit in
length implies that only one in every hundred chromatids recovered from meiosis will have
undergone a crossing-over event in this gap.

CRP Cyclic: AMP receptor protein.

Cryptic splice site: A potential splice site not normally used in RNA causing unless a normal splice
site is blocked or mutated.

C-value paradox: Structural and junk DNA create large eukaryotic genomes and large differences
in DNA content between eukaryotic species.

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae): Photosynthetic bacteria. The ancestors of modem cyanobacteria

are thought to have invaded eukaryotic cells and evolved into chloroplasts.

Cyciosome: An anaphase-promoting complex (APC).

Cyclic AMP (cAMP): A form of AMP (adenosine monophosphate) used frequently as a second
messenger in eukaryotic hormone nets and in catabolite repression in prokaryotes. It is the implicated
in a variety of control mechanisms in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Cyclic: One of a collection of protein that participates in calculating the cell cycle. Different types
of cyclines interact with the p34 kinase subunit and regulate the GI/S and G2/M transitions. The
proteins are called cyclins because their large quantity rises and falls musically in the cell cycle.

Cyclin: A family of proteins involved in cell cycle control.

35
Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK): The family of kinases (phosphorylating enzymes) that, when
combined with cyclin, are active in controlling checkpoints in the cell cycle.

Cystosine: A pyrimidine base found in RNA and DNA.

Cytidine: A nucleoside containing the base cytosine.

Cytogenetics: The study of cells from the perspective of genetics. In practice, area of biology
concerned with chromosomes and their implications in genetics.

Cytohet: A cell with cytoplasm and therefore mitochondria and/or chloroplast from both parents.

Cytokinesis (karyokinesis): The division of the cytoplasm of a cell into two daughter cells it is a
part of mitosis or meiosis.

Cytological map: Diagrammatic representation of a chromosome.

Cytology: The study of the structure and function of cells.

Cytoplasm: The protoplasm of a cell outside the nucleus in which cell organelles (mitochondria,
plastids, etc.) reside. All living parts of the cell except the nucleus.

Cytoplasmic inheritance: Extra chromosomal inheritance controlled by nonnuclear genomes.The

transmission of hereditary characters trough the cytoplasm as distinct from transmission by genes
carried by chromosomes.
For example: Plastid characteristics in plants may be inherited by a mechanism independent of
nuclear genes.

Cytoplasmic ribosomes: The ribosomes that translate the mrnas encoded in the nucleus

Cytosine (C, pyrimidines): A nitrogenous pyrimidine bases that pairs with guanosine in DNA and
RNA.

Cytotoxic T- lymphocytes: T cells responsible for attacking host cells that have been infected with
an invading bacterium or virus.

Cytotype: A maternally inherited cellular condition in Drosophila that regulates the ctivity of
transposable P elements.

36
D
Dalton: The mass of a hydrogen atom.

Dauermodification: The persistence for several generations of an environmentally induced trait.

Daughter strand: A newly synthesized DNA or chromosome strand deficiency S" deletion.
De novo: A latin, meaning arising a new, a fresh, once more.

Deamination of DNA: The elimination of an amino group (NH2) from a cytosine or adenine in DNA
in which the amino group is replaced by a carbonyl group (c = 0). This changes cytosine to uracil and
adenine to hypoxanthine.

Deep Brain Stimulation: A neurosurgical treatment utilizing a neurostimulator placed in the brain
to deliver electrical signals to specific parts of the brain to help control unwanted movements such as
in Parkinson’s disease or regulate the firing of neurons in the brain to help control the symptoms of
disorders such as epilepsy or depression.
Defective virus: A virus that is unable to replicate without a helper virus.

Deficiency (deletion): Absence of a segment of a chromosome, reducing the number of loci.

Degeneracy (redundancy): An aspect of the genetic code in which a particular amino acid is
encoded by more than one codon.

Degenerate code: A genetic code in which several code words have the same meaning. The kinetic
code is degenerate because many different codons may specify the same amino acid.

Degrees of freedom: An integer used to determine whether a chi-square value is statistically

significant of a particular statistical test; an estimate of the number of independent categories in a
particular statistical test or experiment. In the goodness of chi- square test in which the expected
numbers are not based on any quantities estimated from the data themselves, the number of degrees
of freedom is one less than the number of classes of data.

Delayed early genes: It is the phage genes whose expression begins after that of the immediate early
genes. Their record depends on at least one phage protein.

Deleterious: An allele that causes some reduction inviability.

Deletion (deficiency): A mutation connecting a loss of one or more base pairs; the case in which a
chromosomal segment or gene is missing from a chromosome.

Deletion chromosome: A chromosome with part deleted.

37
Deletion mapping: Genetic mapping that employs deletion mutants. For example, one of the mating
partners may contain a well-defined deletion, and the other an unknown point mutation. If
recombination occurs, we know the point mutation lies outside the deleted area

Deme: A locally interbreeding population.

Denaturation (DNA): Separation of the two strands of DNA.

Denaturation (protein): A disruption of the three-dimensional structure of a protein without

breaking any covalent bonds. Denatured proteins often unfold their polypeptide chains and express
changed properties of solubility. Denatured loss of natural configuration of a molecule through heat
or other treatment denatured DNA is single stranded.

Denominator elements: Genes on the autosomes of Drosophila that regulate the sex switch to the
off condition (Maleness). It refers to the denominator of the X/A genic balance equation.

Density-gradient centrifugation: A method of separating molecular entities by their differential

sedimentation in a centrifugal gradient.

Deoxyribose: The five-carbon sugar present in DNA.

Depauperate fauna: A fauna, especially common on islands, lacking many species found in similar
habitats.

Depurination: Removal of purine bases from DNA.

Derepressed: The condition of an operon that is transcribing because repressor control has been
lifted.

Determinant: A substance in an embryonic cell that contributes to determination of that cell.

Determination: Process by which undifferentiated cells in an embryo become committed to develop

into specific cell types, such as neuron, fibroblast, or muscle cell.

Deterministic: Referring to events that have no random or probabilistic aspects but proceed in a
fixed, predictable fashion.

Dettassel: Eradicate the tassel (male inflorescence) as in maize.

Development: The process of orderly change an individual goes through in the formation of
structure.

Deviation: As used in statistics, departure of an observation from its expected value.

38
Diakinesis: The final stage of prophase I of meiosis in which the bivalents are shortened and
thickened. The substage of meiotic prophase-I, immediately is preceding metaphase I, in which the
bivalents attain maximum shortening and condensation.

Diallel cross, complete: The crossing in all possible combinations of a series of genotypes.
Dicentric chromosome: A chromosome with two centromeres.

Dictyotene: A prolonged diplonema of primary oocyte that can last many years.

Dideoxy method: A method of DNA sequencing that uses chain-terminating (dideoxy) nucleotides.

Dideoxy sequencing method: Process for DNA sequencing in which a template strand is replicated
from an exacting primer sequence and terminated by the amalgamation of a nucleotide that contains
dideoxyribose instead of deoxyribose; the resulting fragments are separated by volume via
electrophoresis.

Dideoxyribonucleotide: A nucleotide. Deoxy at both 2' and 3' positions, used to stop DNA chain
elongation in DNA sequencing.

Dideoxyribose: A deoxyribose sugar that lacks the 3' hydroxyl group; when incorporated into a
polynucleotide chain it blocks further chain elongation.

Differentiated cell: A cell that has undergone differentiation.

Differentiation: A process in which unspecialized cells develop characteristic structures and

functions; an expression of the specialized characteristics of a given cell type.

Dihybrids cross: A cross between two individuals that are heterozygous at two genes; for example.
Aabb X aabb.

Dihybrid: An organism heterozygous with respect to two genes or two loci.

Dihydrouracilloop: D-loop.

Dimer (protein): A complex of two polypeptides. These can be the same (in a homodimer), or
different (in a heterodimer).

Dimer: A compound having the same percentage composition as another but twice the molecular
weight; one formed by polymerization.

Dimerization; The chemical union of two similar molecules.

Dimorphism: Two different forms in a group as determined by such characteristics as sex, size, or
coloration.

39
Dioecious: Plants in which male and female flowers occur on different individuals.
Diploid: An organism or cell with two sets of homologous chromosomes (symbolized as 2n).

Diplonema (adj., diplotene): That stage in prophase of meiosis I following the pachytene stage, but
preceding diakinesis, in which the chromosomes of bivalents separate from each other at and around
their centromeres.

Diplotene (Diplonema, diplotene stage): The substage of prophase of meiosis-I in which

chromatid, appear to repel each other. This stage immediately following pachytene and preceding
diakinesis, in which pairs of sister chromatids that make up a bivalnt (tetrad) begin to separate from
each other and chiasmata become visible.

Direct repeat: Copies of an identical or very similar DNA or RNA base sequence in the same
molecule and in the same orientation.

Directed mutation: A form of mutation that appears to respond to the needs of the cell but may in
facts be due to the cells hypermutable state under stress.

Directional cloning: Insertion of foreign DNA into two different restriction sites of a vector, such
that the orientation of the insert can be predetermined.

Directional selection: A type of selection that removes individuals from one end of a phenotypic
distribution and thus cause, a shift in the distribution.

Disassortative mating: The mating of two individuals with dissimilar phenotypes.

Discontinuous replication: In DNA, the replication in short 5' to 3' segments, using the 5' to 3'
strand as a template while going backward, away from the replication fork.

Discontinuous variation: Variation that falls into discrete categories (e.g., red versus white or tall
versus dwarf).

Discordant: Members of a pair showing different, rather than similar, characteristics.

Discrete generations: Generations that have no overlapping reproduction. All reproduction takes
place between individual, of the same cohort.

Disjunction/ Nondisjunction: Separation of homologous chromosomes during anaphase of mitotic

or meiotic divisions.

Disome: Monosomic.

Disomic: An individual with two homologues for each chromosome of the genome or genomes.

40
Dispersive replication: A hypothetical mechanism in which the DNA becomes fragmented so that
new and old DNA co-exist in the same strand after replication.

Disruptive selection: A type of selection that removes individuals from the center of a phenotypic
distribution and thus causes the distribution to become bimodal.

Distant hybridization (distant cross or wide cross): Hybridization between individuals belonging
to two different species of the same genus or of different genera.

Distribution: In quantitative genetics, the mathematical relation that gives the proponing of
members in a population that has each possible phenotype.

Ditype: In fungi, a tetrad that contains two kinds of meiotic products (spores) (e.g., 2AB and 2ab).

Dizygotic twins: Two-egg or maternal twins.

D-loop: Configuration found during DNA replication of chloroplast and mitochondrial chromosomes
where in the origin of replication is different on the two strands. The first structure formed is a
displacement loop or D-loop.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): A polymer composed of deoxyribonucleotides linked jointly by

phosphodiester bonds. The material by which most genes are made.

DNA chip: A small plate of silicon, glass or other substance containing a collection of
oligonucleotides to which DNA samples are hybridized.

DNA cloning: Cloned gene.

DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, the macromolecule, usually composed of two polynucleotide chains in
a double helix; the information-carrying genetic material that comprises the genes.

DNA fingerprints: The use of highly variable regions of DNA to identify particular individuals. A
pattern of bands created in an electrophoretic gel of a DNA digest probed for a variable locus.

DNA glycosylase: An enzyme (endonucleases) that breaks the glycosidic bond between a damaged
base and its sugar.

DNA gyrase: A topoisomerase that relieves supercoiling in DNA by creating a transient break in the
double helix.

DNA ligase: An enzyme that joins two double-stranded DNAs end to end 5'-P and 3'-OH termini in
a broken polynucleotide strand of double-stranded DNA.

41
DNA looping: A device by which enhancers that are far from the immediate proximity of a promoter
can still regulates transcription; the enhancer and promoter both bound with appropriate protein
factors come into indirect physical communication by means of the looping out of the DNA between
them. The physical interaction stimulates transcription.

DNA melting: A denaturation (DNA).

DNA methylase: An enzyme that adds methyl groups (-CH3) to certain bases, particularly cytosine.

DNA photolyase: The enzyme that carries out light repair by breaking thymine dimers. These
enzymes polymerize DNA nucleotides using single stranded DNA as a template.

DNA polymerase I: One of three dissimilar DNA-synthesizing enzymes in E coli is used chiefly in
DNA repair.

DNA polymerase III holoenzyme: The enzyme within the replisome, which in fact makes DNA
during replication.

DNA repair: Any of a number of dissimilar processes for return correct base sequence of a DNA
molecule into which incorrect bases have been incorporated or whose bases have been chemically
modified.

DNA replication: The semiconservative copying of a DNA molecule.

DNA typing: The use of molecular techniques, especially Southern blotting, to identify a particular
individual. Electrophoretic identification of individual persons by the use of DNA probes for highly
polymorphic regions of the genome, such that the genome of virtually every person exhibits a unique
pattern of bands; occasionally called DNA fingerprinting.

DNA uracil glycosylase: An enzyme that eliminates uracil bases when they occur in double-
stranded DNA.

DNA-DNA hybridization: The process of taking DNA from the same or dissimilar sources and
heating and then cooling it, causing double helices to re-form at homologous regions. This method is
useful for determining sequence similarities and degree, of repetitiveness among DNAs.

DNA-RNA hybridization: The process of heating and then cooling a mixture of DNA, and RNA so
that the RNA can hybridize (form a double helix) with DNA with a balancing nucleotide sequence.

DNAase: Any enzyme that hydrolyzes DNA.

DNAase footprinting: A method of detecting the binding site for a protein on DNA by observing
the DNA region this protein protects from degradation by dnase.

42
DNAase hypersensitive sites: Areas of chromatin those are about a hundred times more susceptible
to attack by DNAase-I than bulk chromatin. These regularly lie in the 5'-flanking regions of active or
potentially active genes.

Dockage: Percent impurity in a seed sample.

Docking protein: Accountable for attaching (docking) a ribosome to a membrane by interacting

with a signal particle attached to a ribosome destined to be membrane bound.

Domestication: The process of bringing a wild species under human management.

Dominance: Intra-allelic interaction such that allele manifests itself more or less, when
heterozygous, than its alternative allele.
Dominant: An alleles that expresses itself its phenotype when heterozygous. Also the trait controlled
by that allele; for example, A is dominant over a because the phenotypes of AA and Aa are the same.

Dominant gene: An allele whose occurrence in a heterozygous genotype results in a phenotype

characteristic of the allele.

Donor parent: The parent from which one or more gene are transferred to the repeated parent in
backcross breeding (syn., nonrecurrent parent).

Dosage compensation: A device by which species with sex chromosomes ensure that one sex does
not have differential activity of alleles on the sex chromosomes. It is a mechanism regulating X-
linked genes such that their activities are equal in males and females; in mammals random
inactivation of one X chromosome in females results in equal amounts of the products of X-linked
genes in males and females.

Dot blotting: A blotting technique, used on a DNA already cloned, that eliminates the
electrophoretic separation step. Autoradiographs reveal dots rather than bands on a gel, indicating a
probed sequence.

Double cross: A cross between two F1 hybrids.

Double digest: The result formed when two various restriction endonucleases act on the same
segment of DNA.

Double helix: The normal structural configuration of DNA strands consisting of two helices rotating
about the same axis assume in a chromosome.

Doubled haploid technique: A method in which homozygous lines are obtained by doubling the
chromosome numbers of haploid plants extracted from heterozygous (usually F1) plants.

43
Double-stranded DNA: A DNA molecule consisting of two anti parallel strands that are
complementary in nucleotide sequence.

Double-Y syndrome: The clinical features of the karyotype 47XYY.

Down mutation: A mutation, usually in a promoter, that results in expression of the gene.

Down syndrome: The clinical features of the karyotype 47. + 21 (trisomy 21).

Downstream: A convention on DNA connected to the position and direction of record by RNA
polymerase (5'-3'). Downstream (in the 3' direction) is in the direction of transcription, whereas
upstream (in the 5' direction) is in the path from which the polymerase has come.

Downstream promoter element (OPE): A consensus sequence at about + 28 to + 34 of RNA

polymerase II promoters that have initiator constituents but not TATA boxes.

Drift: Random genetic drift.

Drosophila melanogaster: A species of fruit fly used widely by geneticists.

Drug Delivery Systems: Engineered technologies for the targeted delivery and/or controlled release
of therapeutic agents.
Ds: A detective transposable element found in corn, which relies on an Ac element for transposition.

Duplex DNA: A double-stranded DNA molecule.

Duplication: A chromosome aberration in which a chromosome segment or gene is represented

twice in the same chromosome or in the genome.

Dyad: Two sister chromatids attached to the same centromere.

Dynein: A microtubule motor protein.

Dysplasia: Excessive cell growth that involves pathological changes to the cells and their nuclei.

44
E
E (exit) site: Site on the ribosome that depleted transfer RNAs pass through during ejection.

Early testing: In self-pollinated crops, assessment of the performance of early segregating

generations in order to assess the worth of purelines that would be isolated from them.

Ecotype: A population or strain of organisms that is adapted to a particular habitat.

Editing function (proofreading function): The activity of the DNA polymerases that removes
incorrectly incorporated nucleotides; also called the proofreading function.

Editing: The process of checking each nucleotide for complementarity with its base-pairing partner
as it is inserted during DNA replication.

Effector: A molecule that influences the behavior of a regulatory molecule, such as a repressor
protein, thereby influencing gene expression.

Egg (ovum): A germ cell produced by a female organism.

Elastography:A medical imaging technique that measures the elasticity or stiffness of a tissue. The
technique captures snapshots of shear waves, a special type of sound wave, as they move through the
tissue. The stiffness of the tissue gives information about the possible presence of disease. For
example tumors are harder than the surrounding normal tissue and disease livers are stiffer than
healthy ones.
Electroencephalography (EEG):The recording of electrical activity along the scalp resulting from
current flowing within the neurons of the brain. EEG can be used to diagnose epilepsy and other
disorders associated with altered brain electrical activity.
Electroencephalography (EEG):The recording of electrical activity along the scalp resulting from
current flowing within the neurons of the brain. EEG can be used to diagnose epilepsy and other

disorders associated with altered brain electrical activity.

Electrophile: A molecule that seeks centers of negative charge in other molecules and attacks them
there.

Electrophoresis: The separation of molecular entities by electric current. This technique can be used
to separate DNA fragments on the basis of their different rates of movement in response to an
applied electric field, typically through a gel. It can also be used to separate and identify proteins or
enzymes resulting from the presence of different alleles.

Electroporation: A process or a technique whereby cell membranes are made permeable to DNA by
applying a high-voltage electric current.

45
Elongation complex: The form of RNA polymerase II that actively carries out basal transcription.

Elongation factor (EF-Ts, EF-Tu, EF-G): A protein that is necessary for either the aminoacyl-
tRNA binding or the translocation step in the elongation phase of translation at the ribosome in
prokaryotes. It is replaced by eEFIα and eEFIβγ in eukaryotes.

Emasculation: Removal of the anthers from a flower.

Embryo culture: Removal of increasing young embryos from seeds and their cultivation in vitro.

Embryo rescue: Use of embryo culture to get back such interspecific hybrids that would otherwise
be lost due to endosperm abortion during early stages of embryo development.

Embryogenesis: Embryonic development.

Embryoid: A small mass of dividing cells formed from haploid cells in anthers that can give rise to
a mature haploid plant.

Embryonic stem cells: Cells in the blastocyst that give rise to the body of the embryo.

Encode: To contain the information for making an RNA or polypeptide. A gene can encode a RNA
or a polypeptide.

Endogenote: Bacterial host chromosome, the part of the bacterial chromosome that is homologous
to a genome fragment (exogenote) trasferred from the donor to the recipient cell in the formation of a
merozygote.

Endomitosis: Chromosomal replication or duplication without nuclear or cellular division that

results in cells with many copies of the same chromosome, Chromosome strands separate but die cell
does not divide; such as in the salivary glands of Drosophila.

Endonuclease: An enzyme that breaks strands of DNA at internal positions; some are involved in
recombination of DNA.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER): A cellular network of membranes in the cytoplasm to which

ribosomes adhere.

Endopolyploidy: A state in which the cells of a diploid organism contain multiples of the diploid
chromosome number (i.e., 4n, 8n; etc.).

Endoreduplication: Doubling of the chromosome complement because of chromosome replication

and centromere division without f nuclear or cytoplasmic division.

46
Endosperm: Nutritive tissue that develops in the embryo sac of most angiosperms, it usually forms
after the fertilization of the two fused primary endosperm nuclei of the embryo sac with one of the
two male gamete nuclei. In most diploid plants, the endosperm is triploid (3n), but in some (e.g., the
lily) it is 5n.

Endospores: Dormant spores formed within a cell, as in Bacillus subtilis.

Endosymbiont hypothesis: A theory of the source of organelles, which grasps that mitochondria
and chloroplasts, began as free living prokaryotes that invaded and initiated a mutually beneficial
relationship with primitive eukaryotic cells.
Enhancer: A base sequence in eukaryotes and eukaryotic viruses of that increases the rate of
transcription of nearby genes; a DNA element that strongly stimulates transcription of a gene or
genes. Enhancers are usually found upstream from the genes they influence, but they can also
function if inverted or moved hundreds or even thousands of base pairs away.

Enol tautomer: An abnormal tautomer of uracil, thymine, or guanine, found only rarely in nucleic
acids. Base-pairs abnormally and so can cause mutations.
Enriched medium: complete medium.
Entry: A recently developed line or strain included for assessment in the multilocation trials of the
various Crop Improvement Projects.
Enucleate egg: An egg without a nucleus.
Env: The gene in a retrovirus that encodes the viral envelope (membrane) protein. .
Environmental variance: The pan of the phenotypic variance that is attributable to differences in
environment.
Enzyme: Protein catalyst.
Enzyme: A molecule-usually a protein, but sometimes an RNA that catalyzes, or accelerates and
directs, a biochemical reaction.
Epigenetic change: A change in the expression of a gene, not in the structure of the gene itself.
Epigenetic effect: An environmentally induced change in the genetic material that does not cause a
change in base pairs. It is commonly, a phenomenon of differential expression of alleles of a locus
depending on the parent of origin. It also applied to an effect in proteins.
Epigenetic: A term referring to the nongenetic causes of a phenotype.
Episome: A genetic constituent that may be .present or absent in different cells and that may be
inserted in a chromosome or independent in the cytoplasm, for example, the fertility factor (F) in
Escherichia coli.

Epistasis: A term referring to an interaction between nonallelic genes in their effects on a trait.
Generally, epistasis means any type of interaction in which the action of alleles of one gene by allelic
combinations of another gene. In a more restricted sense it refers to a situation in which the genotype
at one locus determines the phenotype in such a way as to mask the genotype present at a second
locus.

Equational (homotypic) division: Term applied to the mitotic-type division that does not reduce
chromosomal numbers.
Equatorial plate: The figure formed by the chromosomes in the center (equatorial plane) of the
spindle in mitosis.

47
Equilibrium: A state of dynamical systems at which there is no change in the allelic frequencies of
the population.

Error variance: Variance due to factors beyond the control of experimenter. (It is used as the
denominator in F-test).
Error-prone repair: A mechanism used by E. coli cells to replicate DNA that contains thymine
dimers. DNA is replicated across from a dimer even though no base pairing is possible. This usually
leads to mistake.
Escherichia coli (E. coli): An intestinal bacterium: the lavorite subject for bacterial genetics.

EST: expressed sequence tag.

Estrogen: Female hormone or estrus-producing compound.
Euchromatin: A region of a eukaryotic chromosome. These regions stain either lightly or normally
by certain dyes during interphase and that comprises many different kinds of genes.

Eugenetics (Eugenics): The application of the principles of genetics to the improvement of

humankind. It is a social movements designed to improve humanity by encouraging those with
beneficial traits to breed and discouraging those with undesirable traits from breeding.
Eukarya: One of the major kingdoms of living organisms in which the cells have a true nucleus and
divide by mitosis or meiosis.
Eukaryote: An organisms or a cell with a true nucleus (an organism whole cells have nuclei) in
which cell division takes place by mitosis or meiosis; a member of the large group of organisms that
have nuclei enclosed by a membrane within their cells. (cf. Prokaryote.)

Euploid: A cell or an organism having a chromosome number that is gains an exact multiple of the
haploid number. Terms used to identify different levels in a euploid series are diploid, triploid,
tetraploid, and so on.
Euploidy: The condition of a cell or organism that has one or more complete sets of chromosomes.
Evaluation: The procedure of assessing the performance (such as yield) of newly developed strains
of a crop through appropriate multiplication trials.
Evolution: Cumulative change in the genetic characteristics of a same species through time.
Evolutionary rates: The rate of divergence between taxonomic groups, measurable as number of
amino acid substitution per million years.
Excinuclease: A contraction of the term excision nuclease. This is the name given to the enzyme
system that catalyze, excision repair of damaged nucleotides in DNA.
Excision repair: A process whereby DNA repair in which segments of a DNA strand that are
chemically damaged are removed enzymatically and then replaces them with normal one.
Excisionase: An enzyme that is needed for prophage excision; works together with an integrase.

Exconjugant: Each of the two cells that separate after conjugation has taken place.
Exgenote: DNA that a bacterial cell has taken up through one of its sexual processes.
Exogenote: chromosomal fragment homologous to an endogenote and donated to a merozygote.

Exon shuffle: The hypothesis or theory put forward by Walter Gilbert that new genes can evolve by
the assembly of separate exons from preexisting genes. It is a hypothetical process in which exons
from different gene can combine to form new genes over evolutionary time.

48
Exon: The segments of a eukaryotic gene that correspond to the sequences in the final processed
RNA transcript of that gene. A region of a gene that is ultimately represented in that gene’s, mature
transcript. The word refers to both the DNA and it, RNA product.
Exonuclease: beginning at the ends of strands;
Exonucleases: An enzyme that digests DNA or RNA (polynucleotides from the ends of
polynucleotide molecules. They hydrolyze phosphodiester bonds of terminal nucleotides.
Exoskeleton:The external skeleton that supports and protects an animal’s body in contrast to the
bones of an internal skeleton.Rehabilitation engineers have used this design in nature to develop
exoskeletons that attach to the outside of the body and assist individuals with functions like arm and
leg movement.
Exotic: A variety or species introduced from a foreign country.
Experimental design: A branch of statistics that attempts to outline the way in which experiments
should be carried out so the data gathered has statistical value.
Exploration: A trip for collection of germplasm of cultivated and related wild species (Syn.,
expedition).

Expressed sequence tag: A partial or complete cDNA sequence.

Expression site: A locus on a chromosome where a gene can be moved to be expressed efficiently.
For example, the expression site in trypanosomes is at the end (telomere) of a chromosome.
Expression vector: A cloning vector or a hybrid vector (plasmid) that expresses its cloned genes.
Expressivity: Ability of a gene to express itself uniformly in all the individuals that carries it in the
appropriate genotype.

Expressivity: An unarrested spread of a plant disease.

Expressivity: The degree of expression of a genetically controlled trait; the level of phenotypic
expression for a particular genotype.
Extrachromosomal: Structures neither that are nor a part of the chromosomes; DNA units in the
cytoplasm that control cytoplasmic inheritance.
Extracellular Matrix (ECM):The ECM is a collection of extracellular molecules secreted by
support cells that provides structural and biochemical support to the surrounding cells.
Extracellular Vesicles:Extracellular vesicles (EVs): are nanosized, membrane-bound vesicles
released from cells that can transport cargo-- including DNA, RNA, and proteins--between cells as a
form of intercellular communication. For example, EVs released from healthy cells can carry DNA,
RNA or proteins that help to direct repair of damaged tissues. EVs released from tumor cells can
carry DNA, RNA, and proteins that act to help the tumor to metastasize to other tissues.

Extreme Homozygote: A homozygote isolated from a hybrid, usually produced by crossing two or
more parents.

49
F
F' : An F plasmid that has picked up a piece of host DNA.

F-factor (fertility factor): A bacterial plasmid that confers the ability to G function as a genetic
donor (“male”) in conjugation; the fertility factor in bacteria.

F-pilus: The thin projection carried on the surface of an F+ bacterium, which allows bacterial cells to
join during conjugation.

F-plasmid: The fertility bacterial plasmid often called the f factor fertility factor or sex plasmid that
allows a donor bacterium to conjugate with a recipient.

F-strain: A strain typically of Eschtrichia coli lacking the f plasmid, folding domain A short region
of a polypeptide chain within which interactions among amino adds result in a three-dimensional
conformation that is attained relatively independently of the folding of the rest of the molecule.

F+strain: A strain typically of Escherichia coli, containing a uninte grated plastid.

F1 plasmid: An f plasmid that contains genes obtained from the bacterial chromosome in addition to
plasmid genes; formed by aberrant exdsion of an integrated f factor taking along adjacent bacterial
DNA.

F1 generation (filial generation): The first generation of descent from a given mating

F1: The progeny of a cross between two parental types (The first generation of descent from a given
mating) that differ at one or more genes; the first filial generation.

F2: The second filial generation (progeny) obtained by self-fertilization of or intermating among
F1 individuals. Itb is the progeny of a cross between two F1 individuals or the progeny of a self-
fertilized F1; the second generation of descent from a given mating; the second filial generation.

F3, F4 etc: Selfed progeny of F2, F3, etc., respectively.

Factor: Gene.
Factorial: The product of all integers from the specified number down to one (unity).
Family: A group of individuals directly sharing by descent from a common ancestor (or parent).
Fanconi’s anaemia: A disease in human beings with a syndrome of congenital malformations
associated with various cancers.

50
Fate map: A map or a diagram of the development fate of a zygote or early embryo showing the
adult organs that will develop from a given position on the zygote or early embryo.
F-duction (sexduction): The transfer of bacterial genes from one cell to another on an F΄ plasmid.

Fecundity selection: The forces causing one genotype to be more fertile than another genotype.

Feedback Inhibition: A posttranslational control mechanism in which the end product of a

biochemical pathway stops synthesis of that product.

Fertility factor: The plasmid that allows a prokaryote to engage in conjugation with, and pass DNA
into; an F- cell

Fertility plasmid: F plasmid.

Fertility: Ability to produce viable offspring.

Fertilization: The fusion of a male gamete (sperm) with a female gamete (egg) to form a zygote.

Fetus: Prenatal stage of a viviparous animal between the embryonic stage and the time of birth. In
humans, the final seven months before birth is called fetus.

Fimbriae: pili.

Fine structure mapping: Extensive genetic mapping within a gene, ideally down to the nucleotide
level.

Fingerprint (protein): The specific pattern of peptide spots formed when a protein is cut into pieces
(peptides) with an enzyme (e.g. Trypsin), and then the peptides are separated by chromotography.

First meiotic division: The meiotic division that reduces the chromosome number; sometimes called
the reduction division.

First-division segregation (FDS): The allelic arrangement of ordered spores that indicates the lack
of recombination between a locus and its centromere.

FISH: Fluorescence in situ hybridization. It means of hybridizing a fluorescent probe to whole

chromosomes to determine the location of a gene or other DNA sequence within a chromosome.

Fitness W: The relative reproductive success of a genotype as measured by survival, fecundity, or

other life-history parameters.

Fitness: A measures of the average ability of organisms with a given genotype to survive and
reproduce. It is estimated by the number of offspring left by an individual, often compared with the
average of the population or with some other standard, such as the number left by a particular
genotype.
51
Fixation: An event that occurs when all the alleles at a locus except one are eliminated from a
population. The remaining allele, with a frequency of 100 percent, is said to have been fixed.

Fixed allele: It is an allele whose allele frequency equals 1.0.

Flagellum (pl., flagella; ad. flagellate): A whiplike organelle of locomotion in certain cells;
locomotor structures in flagellate protozoa (Latin: flagellum, little whip; plural, flagella).
Floral meristem: The shoot apical meristem sets aside this tissue that gives rise to flowers.

Floral-meristem identity genes: At least five genes known to establish the identity of the floral
meristem.
Fluctuation test: A test to determine whether a given microbial trait is caused by a mutation. If it is,
individual cultures should vary widely in the number of cells showing the trait, since mutation is a
rare and random event and may occur early in the growth of some cultures and later in others. The
test can also be used to measure mutation rates.
Fluctuation test: An experiment by Luria and Delbruck that compared the variance in number of
mutations among small cultures with that among subsamples of a large culture to determine the
mechanism of inherited change in bacteria.
Fluorophore:A fluorescent chemical compound that can re-emit light upon light excitation.
Fluorophores are usually bonded to a molecule serving as a marker to stain tissues, cells, or materials
in methods including fluorescent imaging and spectroscopy.
Fluorescence:The emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic
radiation. The absorbed and emitted light are usually different wavelengths and therefore produce
different colors.
Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH): A technique in which a fluorescent dye is attached to a
nucleotide probe that than binds to a specific site on a chromosome and makes itself visible by its
fluorescence.
Fmet: N-formyl methionine.
Fokker-Planck equation: An equation that describes diffusion processes. It is used by population
geneticists to describe random genetic drift.

Footprinting: A technique to determine the length of nucleic acid in contact with a protein while in
contact, the free DNA is digested; the remaining DNA is then isolated and characterized.
Forced cloning: It is a directional cloning.
Forked-line approach: A technique used to determine progeny type, for multiple genes, based on
independent assortment between the genes.
Forward mutation: A mutation that changes from a wild type allele to a mutant allele.
Foundation seed: Seed stock produced from breeder seed by under the direct control of an
agricultural experiment station. It is the source of registered and certified seeds.
Founder effect: Genetic drift observed in a population founded by a small, nonrepresentative sample
of a larger population.
Founder principle: The possibility that a new, small, isolated population may diverge genetically
because the founding individuals are a random sample from a large, main population.
F-pili: Sex pili. Hairlike projections on an F+ or Hfr bacterium involved in anchorage during
conjugation
52
Fraernal twins: Twins that result from the fertilization of separate ova and are genetically related as
siblings; also called dizygotic twins.

Fragile site: A chromosomal region that has a tendency to break.

Fraglie-X syndrome: The most common form of inherited mental retardation. It is named for its
association with an X chromosome with a tip that breaks or appears uncondensed. Inheritance
involves imprinting.
Frameshift: A mutation, which changes the reading frame of an mRNA, by either an insertion or
deletion of one or two bases of nucleotides.

Free energy of activation (∆G±) Energy needed to initiate a chemical reaction

Free radical: A highly reactive molecule produced when ionizing radiation interacts with water; free
radicals are potent oxidizing agents.
Frequency distribution: A graph showing either the relative or absolute incidence of classes in a
population. The classes may be defined by either a discrete or a continuous variable; in the latter
case, each class represents a different interval on the scale of measurement.

Frequency of cotransduction: The proportion of transductants carrying a selected genetic marker

that also carry a nonselected genetic marker.
Frequency of recombination: The proportion of gametes carrying combinations of alleles that is
not present in either parental chromosome.
Frequency-dependent selection: A selection whereby a genotype is at an advantage when rare and
at a disadvantage when common.

Functional alleles: Mutations that fail to complement each other in a cis-trans complementation test.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI):An MRI-based technique for measuring brain
activity. It works by detecting the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to
neural activity – when a brain area is more active it consumes more oxygen and to meet this
increased demand blood flow increases to the active area. fMRI can be used to produce activation
maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process.

Fundamental number (NF): The number of chromosome arms in a Somatic cell of a particular
species.
Fushi taraju (ftz): A homeobox-containing gene in Drosophila that helps define segmentation in the
early embryo.
Fusion protein: A polypeptide protein resulting from a recombinant gene that contains portions of
two or more different genes. The different genes are joined so that their coding sequences are in the
same reading frame.

53
G
G protein: A protein that binds GTP, which activates the protein to perform a function, when the G
protein cleaves the GTP to GDP. It becomes inactivated until a new molecule of GTP binds.

G1 period: Cell cycle.

Gag: The gene in a retrovirus that encodes the viral coat proteins.

GAL4: A transcription factor that activates the galactose utilization (GAL) genes of yeast by binding
to an upstream control element (UASG).

Galactoside permease: An enzyme encoded in the E. coli lac operon that transports lactose into the
cell.

Galn-of-functlon mutation: Mutation in which a gene is over- expressed or inappropriately

expressed.

Gamete: A mature reproductive cell, such as a sperm or egg in animals.

Gametic chromosome number: Chromosome number present in gametes of a species.

Gametic selection: The forces acting to cause differential reproductive success of one allele over
another in a heterozygote.

Gametogenesis: The formation of gametes.

Gametophyte: In plants, the haploid part of the life cycle that produces the gametes by mitosis; the
cell has n chromosomes. It alternates with a diploid, sporophyte generation.

Gametophytic incompatibility: A botanical phenomenon controlled by the complex S locus in

which a pollen grain cannot fertilize an ovule produced by a plant that carries the same S allele as the
pollen grain. For example, S1 pollen cannot fertilize an ovule made by an S1/S2 plant.

Gamma rays: Very high energy radiation that ionizes cellular components. The ions then can cause
chromosome breaks.

Gap gene: A gene that controls the formation of adjacent segments in the body of Drosophila such
that mutations result in gaps in the pattern of segmentation..

Gastrula: Stage in early animal development marked by extensive cell migration.

G-bands: Eukaryotic chromosomal bands produced by treatment with Giemsa stain.

54
GC box: A hexamer having the sequence GGGCGG on one strand, which occurs in a number of
mammalian structural gene promoters. The binding site for the transcription factor Sp 1.

Gene amplification: A process or processes by which the cell increases the number of repeats of a
particular gene within the genome. It is the chromosomally, increasing the number of copies of the
gene.

Gene bank (world collection): Large collection of germplasm representing materials from various
parts of the world.

Gene cloning (cloned gene): Production of large numbers of a piece of DNA after that piece of
DNA is inserted into a vector, such as a bacterium, where it can replicate along with the host.

Gene cluster: A group of related genes grouped together on a eukaryotic chromosome.

Gene conversion; The conversion of one gene's sequence to that of another of a meiotic division in
an Aa heterozygous genotype are in some ratio other than the expected lA la-for example, 3A: la. IA:
3a. 5A: or 3A: 5a

Gene dosage: Number of gene copies.

Gene expression: The multistep process by which gene products are made (synthesized).

Gene family: A group of genes that has arisen by duplication of an ancestral gene. The genes in the
family may or may not have diverged.

Gene flow: The spread of genes from one breeding population to another that results in the
introduction of migrant alleles through mating and subsequent reproduction.

Gene interaction: Modification of gene action by a nonallelic gene or genes.

Gene mutation: A mutation confined to a single gene.

Gene pool: The total variety and number of alleles within a population or species at a given time.

Gene product: A term used for the polypeptide chain translated from an mRNA molecule
transcribed from a gene.

Gene regulation: Processes by which gene expression is controlled in response to external or

internal signal

Gene targeting: Disruption or mulatto of a designated gene by homologous recombination.

Gene therapy: Deliberate alteration of the human genome for alleviation of disease.

55
Gene: The basic unit of inheritance (DNA) located in a fixed place on the chromosome. Contains the
information for making one RNA and, in most cases, one polypeptide. At the molecular level a
region of DNA containing genetic information usually transcribed into an RNA molecule that is
processed and either functions directly or is translated into a polypeptide chain; a gene can mutate to
various forms called alleles.

General combining ability: Average performance of a strain in a series of cross combinations;

estimated from the performance of ‘F1’s from the crosses.

General transcription factors: Eukaryotic proteins that form part of the RNA polymerase
holoenzymes.

Generalized recombination: Homologous recombination.

Generalized transduction (transducing phage): Form of transduction in which any region of the
host genome can be transduced.

Generation mean analysis: The estimation of additive, dominance and epistatic gene effects from
the means of certain specific families, usually, P 1,P2, F1, F2, B1, and B2; F3 may be used in the place
of B1 and B2 bug the effect cannot be estimated in such a case.

Genetic vulnerability: The susceptibility of most of the cultivated varieties of a corps species to a
disease, insect pest, or some other stress due to similarities in their genotypes; usually, due to the
presence of one (generally more) common parent (s) in their ancestry.
Genetic advance: Improvement in the performance of selected lines over the original population.
Genetic architecture: Of a complex trait, specification of the genetic and environmental factors that
contribute to the trait, and their interactions.

Genetic code: The linear sequences of nucleotides that specify the amino acids during the process of
translation at the ribosome. The set of 64 triplets of bases (codons) that correspond to the 20 amino
acids in proteins and the signals for initiation and termination of polypeptide synthesis.

Genetic counseling: Counseling based on the risks of producing, genetically defective infants,
usually given where some familial history of a genetic disease exists.

Genetic drift (Random genetic drift): The chance changes in allelic frequency that result from the
sampling of gametes from generation to generation

Genetic emasculation: Use of genetic factors to make the male gamete nonfunctional in self-and/or
cross-pollination.
Genetic engineering: Isolation of he desired gene from an organism, its integration into a suitable
vector and then its introduction into another organism (called host) with a view to either obtain
56
multiple copes of the desired gene or the protein produced by this gene. The gene may remain in the
vector or may get integrated into the chromosome of the host; the latter produces transgenic
organisms. It is a popular term for recombinant DNA technology. The linking of two DNA
molecules by in vitro manipulations for the purpose of generating a novel organism with desired
characteristics.
Genetic equilibrium: In a random mating population; the condition in which successive generations
of a population contains the same genotypes in the same proportions with respect to particular genes
or combinations of genes.
Genetic erosion: Gradual disappearance of various forms of a cultivated species and of its wild
relatives.
Genetic load: The part by which the fitness of the best genotype is decreased by harmful genes, as
expressed in lethal equivalents or “genetic deaths.” Average genetic load of the human population
has been estimated to be four to six lethal equivalents.

Genetic mapping (linkage map): Determining the linear order of genes and the distances between
them.

Genetic marker: A mutant gene or other peculiarity in a genome that can be used to "mark" a spot
in a genome for mapping, purposes; any pair of alleles whose inheritance can be traced through a
mating or through a pedigree.

Genetic polymorphism: The occurrence together in the same population of more than one allele at
the same locus, with the least frequent allele occurring more frequently than can be accounted for by
mutation.

Genetic purity of seed: Freedom of seed from seeds of weeds other crops and other varieties of the
same crop.
Genetic Variance: Variance due to genotypes of different plants or strains. It has additive,
dominance and epistatic components.
Genetics: The study of biological heredity and variation.

Genic balance theory: Bridges's theory that the sex of a fruit fly is determined by the relative
number of X chromosomes and autosomal sets.

Genome: A complete set (n) of Chromosomes (hence, of genes) inherited as a unit from one parent.
It is the entire genetic complement of a prokaryote or virus or the haploid genetic complement of a
eukaryote.

Genomic equivalence: The concept that differentiated cells in a eukaryotic organism have identical
genetic contents.

57
Genomic library: A set of cloned fragments making up the entire genome of an organism or
species; a set of clones containing DNA fragments derived directly from a genome, rather than from
mRNA.

Genomics: The study of the mapping and sequencing of genomes. Bioinformatics is the science of
mining the data from these DNA sequences obtained from sequencing.

Genophore: The chromosome (genetic material) of prokaryotes and viruses.

Genotype environment interaction: The effect on a phenotype value that results from a specific
genotype specific environment and that is not predictable from either.

Genotype frequency: The proportion of members of a population that are of a prescribed genotype.

Genotype: The allelic constitution of a given individual; the genetic constitution (gene makeup) of
an organism. The genotypes at locus A in a diploid individual may be AA, Aa. Aa.

Genotype-by-sex interaction: Genetic determination that differs between the sexes to result in
different phenotypes for the same genotype depending on the sex of the individual.

Genotype-environment association: The condition in which genotypes and environments are not in
random combinations.

Genotype-environment interaction: The condition in which genetic and environmental effects on a

trait are not additive.

Genotypic variance: The part of the phenotypic variance that is attributable to differences in
genotype.

Germ cell: A cell that gives rise to reproductive cells and reproducing an entire organism. (cf.
Somatic cell.)

Germ line: Cell lineage consisting of germ cells.

Germ-line mutation (Germinal mutation): A mutation that affects the sex cells, enabling it to be
passed on to progeny.

Germplasm complex: Open-pollinated progeny from a mixture of a number of strains of diverse

origin.
Germplasm: The sum total of hereditary material or genes present in a species.
Geteroduplex: All or part of a double-stranded nucleic add molecule in which the two strands have
different hereditary origins; produced either as an intermediate in recombination or by the in vitro
annealing of single-stranded complementary molecules.

58
Giemsa stain: A complex of stains specific for the phosphate groups of DNA.

Globulins: Common proteins in the blood those are insoluble in water and soluble in salt solutions.
Alpha, beta, and gamma globulins can be distinguished in human blood serum. Gamma globulins are
important in developing immunity to diseases.

Glucocorticoid: A steroid hormone that regulates gene expression in higher animals.

Glucose: A simple, six-carbon sugar used by many forms of life as an energy source.

Glycosidic bond (in a nucleoside): The bond linking the base to the sugar (ribose or deoxyribose) in
RNA or DNA.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs):GAGs are a main component of the ECM and are linked to the
fibrous proteins in the ECM which include collagen, elastin, fibronectin, and laminin.
Goldstein-Hogness box: TATA box.

Golgi apparatus: A membranous organelle that packages newly synthesized proteins for export
from the cell.

Gonad: A sexual organ (i.e., ovary or testis) that produces gametes.

Goodness of fit: The extent to which observed numbers agree with the numbers expected on the
basis of some specified genetic hypothesis.

Green fluorescent protein: A reporter system that uses the gene from a jellyfish that species a
protein that fluoresce green when ultraviolet light is shined on it, indicating the success of a
transfection experiment.

Group I introns: Self-splicing introns in which splicing is initiated by a free guanosine or guanosine
nucleotide.

Group II introns: Self-splicing introns that do not require an external nucleotide for splicing; the
intron is released in a lariat form.

Group selection: Selection for traits that would be beneficial to a population at the expense of the
individual possessing the trait.

G-tetraplex: A structure of four guanines that than base pair to form a planar structure that may be
involved in novel structures at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes.

Guanine (G): A nitrogenous purine base found in DNA and RNA that pairs with cytosine.

Guanine (G): purine base found in DNA and RNA.

Guanosine: A nucleoside containing the base guanine.

Guide RNA (gRNA): RNA that guides the insertion of uridines (RNA editing) into messenger
RNAs in trypanosomes found in transcripts from minicircles and maxicircles of DNA in kinetoplasts.

Guide RNA: The RNA template present in telomerase.

Gynandromorph: An individual in which one part of the body is female and another part is male; a
sex mosaic.
59
H
H4 histone: Histone.

Hairpin: A structure resembling a hairpin (bobby pin) formed by intramolecular base pairing in an
inverted repeat of a single-stranded DNA or RNA.

Half chiasma: Chi structure.

Half-Cot: The Cot at which half of the DNA molecules in an annealing solution will be renatured.

Half-life: The time it takes for half of a population of molecules to disappear

Hammerhead ribozyme; A catalytic RNA, shaped like a hammerhead, capable of splitting other
RNA molecules with appropriate complementary sequences.

Haplodiploidy: The sex-determining mechanism found in some insect groups among which males
are haploid and females’ arts diploid.
Haploid (monoploid): An organism or cell having only one complete set (n) of chromosomes or one
genome normally found in gametes.

Haplotype: A set of linked genes or DNA sequences that tend to be inherited together.

Haptic Technology: A technology that provides the sense of touch to the user through forces,
vibrations or motions. For medical procedures, haptic interfaces can improve minimally-invasive
surgery by relaying the sense of pressure and touch through the instruments used by the surgeon.
Haptic technology has been introduced into the design of prosthetics to provide sensory feedback to
the user.read less
Haptoglobin: A serum protein, alpha globulin, in the blood.

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium: Mathematical relationship of the genotype frequencies expected

after one generation of random mating.

HAT medium: A selection medium for hybrid cell lines contains hypoxanthine, aminoprotein and
thymidine. HPRT + TK+ cell lines can survive in this medium.

Heat shock proteins: Proteins that appear in a cell after the cell has been subjected to elevated
temperatures.

Helicase: An enzyme or protein that unwinds a polynucleotide double helix.

Helix: Any structure with a spiral shape. The Watson and Crick model of DNA is in the form of a
double helix.

60
Helix-turn-helix motif: Configuration found in DNA-binding proteins consisting of a recognition
helix and a stabilizing helix separated by a short tRNA.

Helix-turn-helix: A structural motif in certain DNA-binding proteins, especially those from

prokaryotes, that fits into the DNA wide groove and gives the protein its binding capacity and
specificity.

Helper virus (or phage): A virus that supplies functions lacking in a defective virus, allowing the
latter to replicate.

Hemizygous: The condition of loci present in only one copy in a diploid organism, such as loci on
the X chromosome of the heterogametic sex of a diploid species.

Hemoglobin: The red, oxygen-carrying protein in the red blood cells containing iron, located in
erythrocytes of vertebrates; important in the transportation of oxygen to the cells of the body.

Hemolymph: The mixture of blood and other fluids in the body cavity of an invertebrate.

Hemophilia: A bleeder's disease; tendency to bleed freely from even a slight wound; patients are
deficient in blood-clotting factor VIII; this condition dependent on a sex-linked recessive gene.

Heredity: Resemblance among individuals related by descent; transmission of traits from parents to
offspring.

Heritability: The proportion of total phenotypic variance that is due to genotype. The degree to
which given trait is controlled by inheritance. Symbolized as H 2 realized heritability is an estimate of
H2 from a selection experiment. In the broad sense it is measured by the total genetic variance
divided by the total phenotypic variance. In the narrow sense, it is measured by the genetic variance
due to additive genes divided by the total phenotypic variance.

Hermaphrodite: An animal that has both male and female reproductive organs.

Heterochromatin: Chromatin that remains condensed and inactive and heavily (darkly) stained
throughout the cell cycle. Even during interphase; often containing repetitive DNA with few genes;
commonly present adjacent to the centromere and in the telomeres of chromosomes. Some
chromosomes are composed primarily of heterochromatin.

Heteroduplex DNA (Heterozygous DNA, Hybrid DNA): A double-stranded polynucleotide

(nucleic acid) one or more mismatched (noncomplementary) base pairs.

Heterogametic sex: Producing unlike gametes with regard to the sex chromosomes. In humans, the
XY male is heterogametic and the XX female is homogametic.

61
Heterogeneous nuclear mRNA: The original RNA transcripts found in eukaryotic nuclei before
posttranscriptional modifications.

Heterokaryon: A cell containing two or more nuclei from different origins

Heterokaryotype: Individuals that is heterozygous for two chromosomal types.

Heteromorphic chromosome pair: Members of a homologous pair of chromosomes that are not
morphologically identical (e.g., the sex chromosomes).

Heteroplasmy: The existence within an organism of genetic heterogeneity within the populations of
mitochondria or chloroplast.

Heteroploid (aneuploid): An organism characterized by a chromosome number other than the true
haploid (monoploid) or diploid number (2n + 1 or 2n - 1).

Heteropyknosis (adj, heteropyknotic): Property of certain chromosomes, or of their parts, to

remain denser and to stain more intensely than other chromosomes or parts during the cell cycle.

Heterosis (hybrid vigour): The superiority of hybrids over either inbred parent with respect to one
or more traits in comparison with corresponding homozygotes (or even inferiority to both the parents
e.g., earliness); also called hybrid vigor.

Heterothallic: A botanical term used for organisms in which the two sexes reside in different
individuals.

Heterotrophs: Organisms that require an organic from of carbon as a source.

Heterozygosity: The proportion of heterozygotes in a population.

Heterozygote: An organism with unlike members of any given pair or series of alleles that
consequently produces unlike gametes; for example A1 A2.

Heterozygote advantage: A selection model in which heterozygotes have the highest fitness.

Heterozygote superiority: The condition in which a heterozygous genotype has greater fitness than
either of the homozygotes.

Heterozygous: Carrying dissimilar alleles of one or more genes; not homozygous.

Hexaploid: A cell or organism with six complete sets of chromosomes.

Hfr strain: An E coli strain in which an F plasmid is integrated into the chromosome making
possible the transfer of part or the entire chromosome to an F- cell histone. Any of the small basic
proteins bound to DNA in chromatin; the five major histones are designated H 1. H2A. H2B. H3, and

62
H4. Each nucleosome core particle contains two molecules each of H 2A. H2B. H3, and H4. The H1
histone forms connecting links between nucleosome core particles.

Hfr: A strain of E. coli that experiences a high frequency of recombination because of integration of
the F plasmid into the bacterial chromosome, which mobilizes the chromosome.

Histone acetyl transferases (HATs): Proteins that remodel chromatin by acetylating histones.

Histones: A class of five small, basic proteins rich in basic amino acids intimately associated with
DNA in most eukaryotic chromosomes. They function in the coiling of DNA in chromosomes and in
the regulation of gene activity.

HnRNA: Heterogeneous nuclear mRNA.

Hogness box: TATA box

Holandric trait: Trait controlled by a locus found only on the Y chromosome involve, father-to-son
transmission.

Holliday junction resolving enzyme: An enzyme that catalyze the breakage and rejoining of two
DNA strands in a Holliday junction to generate two independent duplex molecules.

Holliday junction: A junction point between two cross-linked DNA double helices. It is an
intermediate stage in DNA recombination.

Holliday model: A molecular model of genetic recombination in which the participating duplexes
contain heteroduplex regions of the same length.

Holliday structure: A cross-shaped configuration of two DNA duplexes formed as an intermediate

in recombination.

Holoenzyme: The complete enzyme, including all subunits. It is often used in reference to RNA and
DNA polymerases.

Homeo box: A consensus sequence of about 180 base pairs discovered in homeotic genes in
Drosophila. Also found in other developmentally important genes from yeast to human beings.

Homeodomain: A 60-amino acid domain of a DNA binding protein that allows the protein to bind
tightly to a specific DNA region

Homeotic gene: Gene that controls the developmental fate of a cell type mutation of the homeotic
gene cause one cell type to follow the developmental pathway of another cell type. A gene in which
a mutation causes the transformation of one body part into another.

63
Homeotic mutation: A mutation that causes a body part to develop in an inappropriate position in
an organism. For example, a mutation in Drosophila that causes legs to be developed on the head in
the place of antennae.

Homoeologous chromosomes: Partially homologous chromosomes; generally show reduced or lack

of pairing.
Homogametic sex: Producing like gametes with regard to the sex chromosomes.

Homogametic: The sex with homomorphic sex chromosomes; it produces only one kind of gamete
in regard to the sex chromosomes.

Homogentisic acid: Substance excreted in the urine of alkaptonurics that turns black upon oxidation.

Homologous chromosomes: Chromosomes that occur in pairs in meiosis and are generally are
identical in size, shape; one having come from the male parent and the other from the female parent.
Such chromosomes contain the same array of genes; also called homologs.

Homologous recombination: Breakage and reunion between homologous lengths of DNA mediated
by RecA and RecBCD; a recombination that requires extensive sequence similarity between the
recombining DNAs.

Homologous: In reference to DNA, having the same or nearly the same nucleotide sequence as a
result of common ancestry.

Homomorphic chromosome pairs: Morphologically identical member, of a homologous pair of

chromosomes.

Homoplasmy: The existence within an organism of only one type of plastid; usually referring to the
genetic identity of mitochondria or chloroplasts.

Homothailism: The capacity of cells in certain fungi to undergo a conversion in mating type to
make possible mating between cells produced by the same parental organism.

Homothallic: A botanical term used for groups whose individuals are not of different sexes.

Homozygote: A diploid or a polyploid genotype in which both alleles for a given gene are identical;
for example. A1A1 or aa.

Homozygous: Having the same allele of a gene in homologous chromosomes.

Homrotic (HOX) gene: Any of a group of genes in which a mutation results in the replacement of
one body structure by another body structure.

64
Hormone: An organic product of cells of one part of the body that is transported by the body fluids
to another part where it influences activity or serves as a coordinating agent. In animals hormones
are transported from their source to a target tissue in the blood.

Host-range: The set of host that can be productively infected by a virus (or phage)
Hot spot: A site in a DNA molecule at which the mutation rate is much higher than the rate for most
other sites.

Housekeeping gene: A gene that is expressed at the same level in virtually all cells and whose
product participates in basic metabolic processes; genes that code for proteins used by all kind of
cells.

Human genome project: A worldwide project to map genetically and sequence the human genome.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV): The agent that causes acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (AIDS).

Humoral immunity: Immunity due to antibodies in the serum and lymph.

Huntington disease: Dominantly inherited degeneration of the neuromascular system.

H-Y antigen: The histocompatibility Y-antigen, a protein found on the cell surfaces of male
mammals.

Hybrid cell: A cell created by fusing two dissimilar cells. First, a heterokaryon forms then, after
nuclear fusion, a hybrid cell.

Hybrid DNA: DNA whose two strands have different origins.

Hybrid dysgenesis: A phenomenon observed in Drosophila in which the hybrid offspring of two
certain parental strains suffer so much chromosomal damage that they are sterile, or dysgenic.

Hybrid plasmid: A plasmid that contains an inserted piece of foreign DNA.

Hybrid polynucleotide: The product of polynucleotide hybridization.

Hybrid substance: New isozyme present in a hybrid, which is different from those present in its
parents.
Hybrid variety: A hybrid variety is the F1 generation from a cross between two different strains.
Hybrid vehicle (Hybrid vector): A plasmid or phage containing an inserted piece of foreign DNA.

Hybrid vigor (heterosis): Unusual growth strength, and health of heterozygous hybrids from two
less vigorous homozygous parents.

65
Hybrid zone: Geographical region in which previously isolated populations that have evolved
differences come into contract and form hybrids.

Hybrid: An organism produced by the mating of genetically unlike parents; also a duplex nucleic
acid molecule produced of strands derived from different sources.

Hybridization (of polynucleotides): Forming a double-stranded structure from two polynucleotide

strands (either DNA or RNA) from different sources.

Hybridization: Interbreeding of species, races, and varieties and so on, among plants or animals. It
is a process of forming a hybrid by cross-pollination of plants or by mating animals of different
types.

Hybridorna: A cell resulting from the fusion of a spleen cell and a multiple myeloma cell. These
cells can be maintained indefinitely in cell culture, in which they produce monoclonal antibodies.

Hydrogen bond: A weak non covalent linkage between two negatively charged atoms in which a
hydrogen atom is shared.

Hydrogel:A biomaterial made up of a network of polymer chains that are highly absorbent and as
flexible as natural tissue. Hydrogels have a number of uses including as scaffolds for tissue
engineering, as sustained release drug delivery systems, and as biosensors that are sensitive to
specific molecules such as glucose.
Hyperchromic shift: The increase in a DNA solutions, absorbance, of 260 mm light upon
denaturation.

Hyperplasia: Excessive cell growth that does not involve pathological changes to the cell.
Hypersensitive sites: Regions in the DNA that is highly susceptible to digestion with endonucleases.

Hypervariable loci: Loci with many alleles, especially those whose variation is due to variable
numbers of tandem repeat.
Hypomorph: A mutation that reduces but does not completely abolish gene expression.

Hypostasis: Oposite term of Epistasis.

Hypostatic gene: A gene whose expression is masked by an epistatic gene.

66
I
I1, I2, I3, and etc Populations: Populations obtained after one, two, three, etc., respectively,
generations of inbreeding.
ICR: Internal control region.

Identical twins: Twins developed from a single fertilized egg that splits into two embryos at an early
division; also called monozygotic twins.

Identification of a variety: Recommendation by the annual workshop of the concerned for the
release of a strain or an entry as a new variety.
Identity by descent: The state of two alleles when they are identical copies of the same ancestral
allele (autozygous).
Idiogram: A photograph or diagram of the chromosomes of a cell arranged in an orderly fashion
(karyotype).
Idiotypic variation: Variation in the variable parts of immunogobulin genes.
Idling reaction: The production of guanosine tetraphosphate (3-ppGpp-5) by the stringet factor
when a ribosome encounters an uncharged transfer RNA in the site.
Illegitimate recombination: Recombination that requires little if any sequence similarity between
the recombining dnas and is therefore not site-specific.

Image-Guided Robotic Interventions:Medical procedures, primarily minimally invasive surgery,

performed through a small incision or natural orifice using robotic tools operated remotely by a
surgeon with visualization by devices such as cameras small enough to fit into a minimal incision.
Imaginal disk: Structures present in the body of insect larvae from which the adult structures, such
as a wing, leg, or antenna develop during pupation.

Imino tautomer: An abnormal tautomer of adenine or cytosine, found only rarely in nucleic acids.
Base-pairs abnormally and so can cause mutations.

Immediate early genes: Phage genes that are expressed immediately upon infection. They are
transcribed even if phage protein synthesis is blocked, so their transcription depends only on host
proteins.

Immune reaction: Complete absence of symptoms of a disease even after the host is exposed to the
pathogen.
Immunity region: The control region of a λ or λ like phage, containing the gene for the repressor as
well as the operators recognized by this repressor.

Immunity: The ability of an organism to resist infection.

67
Immunofluorescence:A biological staining technique in which the fluorescent signaling molecule is
bound to an antibody to a protein of interest. When the “fluorescently tagged” antibody binds to its
target protein the site or distribution of that protein can be visualized with the appropriate imaging
devices.

Immunoglobulin (antibody): A protein that binds very specifically to an invading substance and
alerts the body's immune defenses to destroy the invader.

Immunoglobulins (Igs): Specific proteins produced by derivatives of B lymphocytes that protect an

organism from antigens.

Implantable Devices:Man-made medical devices implanted in the body to replace or augment

biological functions. Such devices range from those that provide structural support, such as a hip
replacement to those that contain electronics, such as pacemakers. Some implants are bioactive such
as a drug-eluting stent used to open a blocked artery.
Imprinting (molecular imprinting): A phenomenon in which an autosome inherited from the female
parent produces a different phenotype than the same autosome, with the same genotype, inherited
from the male parent.

Imprinting center (IC): A region responsible for the control of imprinting. The imprinting mark is
almost certainly DNA methylation, which is able to turn off gene transcription.
Improved seed: Seed of an improved variety having a very high genetic and physical purity, and
germination.
In cis: A condition in which two genes are located on the same chromosome.

In situ: From the Latin, meaning “in the natural place”. Refers to experimental treatments performed
on cells or tissues rather than on extracts from then.

In trans: A condition in which two genes are located on separate e chromosomes.

In vitro: From the Latin, meaning “within glass”; biological or chemical work done in the test tube
(literally “in glass") rather than in living systems. It is the technique of culturing cells and organs on
artificial media in vitro.
In vivo: From the Latin, meaning “within the living organism.”

Inborn error of metabolism: A genetically determined biochemical disorder usually in the form of
an enzyme defect that produces a metabolic block.

Inbred line: A nearly homozygous line developed by continued inbreeding, usually selfing,
accompanied by selection.
Inbred-Variety cross: Cross between an inbred and an open-pollinated variety.

68
Inbreeding coefficient: It is the probability that the two homologous alleles in an individual are
identical by descent. It is a measure of the genetic effects of inbreeding in terms of the proportionate
reduction in heterozygosity in an inbred organism compared with the heterozygosity expected with
random mating.

Inbreeding depression: The reduction of population fitness (vigor or yield) due to inbreeding

Inbreeding: The mating between genetically related individuals.

Incestuous: A mating between blood relatives who are more closely related than the law of the land
allows.
Incision: Nicking a DNA strand with an endonuclease.

Inclusive fitness: The expansion of the concept of the fitness of a genotype to include benefits
accrued to relatives of an individual since relatives share parts of their genomes. An apparently
altruistic act toward a relative may thus enhance the fitness of the individual performing the act.
Incomplete dominance: Expression of two alleles in a heterozygote that allows the heterozygote to
be distinguished from either of its homozygous parents. The phenotype is usually intermediate
between the two homozygous forms.

Incomplete penetrance: Condition in which a mutant phenotype is not expressed in all organisms
with the mutant genotype.

Independent assortment: A principle discovered by Mendel (Mendel’s second rule), describing the
independent segregation of alleles of different loci.

Individual selection: Selection based on each organism's own phenotype.

Induced mutation: A mutation formed under the influence of a chemical mutagen or radiation.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC):A stem cell that is formed by the introduction of stem-cell
inducing factors into a differentiated cell of the body, typically a skin cell.
Inducer (embryonic): A substance that one embryonic cell makes to influence the development of
another cell.

Inducer: A small molecule that releases negative control of an operon.

Inducible enzyme: An enzyme that is synthesized only is the presence of the substrate that acts as
an inducer.

Inducible system: A system (a coordinated group of enzymes involved in a catabolic pathway) is

inducible if the metabolite it works upon cause transcription of the genes controlling these enzymes.
These systems are primarily prokaryotic operons.

69
Inducible transcription: Transcription of a gene, or a group of genes only in the presence of an
inducer molecule.

Induction: In regard to temperate phages, the process of causing a prophage to become virulent.
Informatics: bioinformatics.
Inhibitor: Any substance or object that retards a chemical reaction; a major or modifier gene that
interferes with a reaction.

Initial evaluation trial: The preliminary evaluation of a relatively large number of newly developed
strains in the multiplication trials of concerned.
Initiation codon: The messenger RNA sequence AUG, which species methoinine, the first amino
acid used in the translation process (Occasionally), GUG is recognized as an initiation codon.
Initiation complex: The complex formed for initiation of tranlation. It consists of the 30S ribosomal
submit, messenger RNA N-form-methoinine transfer RNA and three initiation factors.
Initiation factor: A protein that helps catalyzes the initiation of translation.

Initiation factors (IF1, IF2, IF3) Proteins (prokaryotic analogues) required for the proper initiation of
translation.
Initiation: The beginning of protein synthesis.

Initiator element (inr): A CT-rich area found in RNA ploymerase II promoters without TATA
boxes.
Initiator protein: Proteins that recognize the origin of replication on a replicon and take part in
primosome construction.
Inosine (I): A nucleoside containing the base hypoxanthine, which base-pairs with cytosine. One of
a number of unusual bases found in transfer' RNA.

Insertion mutagenesis: Change in gene action due to an insertion event that either changes a gene
directly or disrupts control mechanisms.
Insertion sequence (IS): A DNA sequence capable of transposition found in bacteria (prokaryotic
genome); such sequences usually code for their own transposes.

Inside marker: The middle locus of three linked loci.

Integrase: An enzyme that catalyzes the site-specific exchange when a prophage is inserted into or
exdsed from a bacterial chromosome; in the exdsion process an accessory protein, excisionase, also
is needed.

Integrated phage: A state in which the phage DNA molecule is insened intact into the bacterial
chromosome; the integrated phage is called a prophage.

70
Interaction: In statistics, an effect that cannot be explained by the additive action of contributing
factors departure from strict additively.

Intercalary heterochromatin: Heterochromatin, other than centromeric heterochromatin dispersed

throughout eukaryotic chromosomes.
Intercalation: Indention of a planar molecule between the stacked bases in duplex DNA.

Interference: The effect of one crossover influencing the probability that another will occur in the
immediate vicinity.
Intergenic suppression: A mutation at a second locus that apparently resorts the wild type
phenotype to a mutant at a first locus.
Intergenotypic competition: Competition between or among plants of different genotypes;
important in the segregating generations, varieties mixtures, etc.
Interkinesis: The abbreviated interphase that occurs between meiosis I and II. No DNA replication
occurs here.
Internal control region (ICR): The part of a eukaryotic promoter recognized by RNA polymerase
III that lies inside the gene's coding region.

Internal ribosome entry site: Sequence in eukaryotic messenger RNAs that allows ribosomes to
initiate translation at a point other than the 5 cap.
Interphase: The stage in the cell cycle during which DNA is synthesized but the chromosomes are
not visible intervening (when the cell is not dividing); the stage following telophase of one division
and extending to the beginning of prophase in the next division.

Interplant competition: Competition among plants of the same genotype; important in the stands of
pure lines, single cross hybrids, clones etc.
Interpolar microtubules: Microtubules extending from one pole of the spindle is and overlapping
spindle fibers from the other pole, but not in contact with kinetochores.

Interrupted mating: A mapping technique in which bacterial conjugation is disrupted after

specifiec time intervals.
Interrupted-mating technique: In an Hfr x F- cross, a technique by which donor and recipient cells
are broken apart at specific times, allowing only a particular length of DNA to be transferred.

Intersex: An organism with external sexual characteristics of both sexes; a type that shows some
phenotypic characteristics of both males and females.

Interspecific hybridization: Hybridization between plants belonging to two different species of the
same genus.
Intervening sequences (introns): DNA sequences within a gene that are transcribed but removed
prior to translation.

Intra-allelic complementation: The restoration of activity in an enzyme made of subunits in a

heterozygote of two mutants that, when homozygous, are not active. It is caused by the interaction of
the subunits in the protein.

Intracistronic complementation: Complementation of two mutations in the same gene. It can occur
by cooperation among different defective monomers to form an active oligomeric protein.

Intragenic suppression: A second change within a mutant gene that results in an apparent
restoration of the original phenotype.
71
Intron (intervening sequences): A noncoding DNA sequence in a gene that is unscribed but is then
excised from the primary unscript in forming a mature mRNA molecule; found primarily in
eukaryotic cells. The word refers to the intervening sequence in both the DNA and its RNA product.

Invariant: Constant and unchanging, usually referring to the portion of a molecule that is the same
across species.

Inversion loop: Loop structure formed by synapsis of homologous genes in a pair of chromosomes
one of which contains an inversion.

Inversion: A structural aberration (a rearrangement) that reverses the normal order of a linear array
of genes in a chromosome. A pericentric conversion includes the centromere within the inverted
region, while a paracentric inversion does not.

Inverted repeat: A sequence present twice in a DNA molecule, but in reverse orientation; a
symmetrical sequence of DNA, reading the same forward on one strand and backward on the
opposite strand.

Ionizing radiation: Electromagnetic or paniculate radiation that produces ion pairs when dissipating
its energy in mailer.

Irradiation: Exposure of biological materials to radiation, more particularly to mutagenic radiation

(X-rays or other radiations).
IS element (insertion sequence): A short (800-1400 nucleotide-pairs) DNA sequence found in
bacteria that is capable of transposing to a new genomic location; other DNA sequences that are
bounded by IS elements may also be transposed.

IS elements: Insertion sequences.

Isoagglutinogen: An antigen, such as A or B blood type factor, that occurs normally (ie. in an
individual, without artificial stimulation).

Isoalleles: Alleles indistinguishable except by special tests.

Isochromosome: A chromosome with two genetically (identical genes) and morphologically
identical arms. The arms are mirror images of each another.

Isogeneic lines: Two or more lines differing from each other genetically at one locus only. It is
distinguished from clones, homozygous lines, identical twins, etc which are identical at all loci.
Isolation: The separation of one group from another so that mating between or among groups is
prevented.
Isoschizomers: Two or more restriction endonucleases that recognize and cut the same restriction
site.

Isozymes: Different electrophoretic forms of the same enzyme. Unlike allozymes, isozymes are due
to differing subunit configurations rather than allelic differences.

72
J
Joining region (J): The segment of an immunoglobulin gene encoding the last thirteen amino acids
of the variable region. One of several joining regions is joined by a chromosomal rearrangement to
the rest of the variable region, introducing extra variability into the gene.

Junctional diversity: Variability in immunoglobulins caused by variation in the exact crossover

point during V: J, V-D, and D-J joining.

K
Kappa particles: DNA-containing, self-reproducing cytoplasmic particles in certain strains of
Paramecium aurelia. Nuclear gene K is required for maintenance of kappa in the cytoplasm of killer
strains.

Karyokinesis (c-cytokinesis): The process of nuclear division..

Karyotype (idiogram): A pictorial or photographic representation of all the chromosomes in a given

individual; often represented by an arrangement of metaphase chromosomes according or their
lengths and the positions of their centromeres; also the abbreviated formula for the chromosome
constitution, such as 47, XX + 21 for human trisomy-21.

Keto tautomer: The normal tautomer of uracil, thymine, or guanine found in nucleic acids.

Kilobase pair (kb): Unit of length of a duplex DNA molecule; equal one thousand (1000) base
pairs.

Kin selection: The mode of natural selection that acts on an individual’s inclusive fitness.
Kinesin: Microtubule motor protein.

Kinetochore microtubules: Microtubules radiating from the centromeres and attached to

kinetochores of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis.

Kinetochore: A localized region in each chromosome to which the “spindle fiber” appears to be
attached and which seems to determine movement of the chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis.
Kinetosome: Granular body at the base of a flagellum or a cilium.

Klenow fragment: A fragment of DNA polymerase I, created by cleaving with a protease that lacks
the 5'→3' exonuclease activity parent enzyme.

Klinefelter syndrome: The clinical features of human males with the karyotype 47.XXY

Knockout mice: Transgenic mice have been made homozygous for a nonfunctioning allele at a
particular locus.
Kptonema (adj., leptotene): Stage in meiosis immediately preceding synapsis in which the
chromosomes appear as single, fine threadlike structures (but they are really double because DNA
replication has already taken place).

73
L
Lac A: The E. Coli gene that encodes galactoside transacetylase

Lac operon: The inducible operon, including three loci involved in the uptake and breakdown of
lactose.
Lac repressor: A protein, the product of the E. coli lad gene, that forms a tetramer which binds to
the lac operator and thereby represses the lac operon. Lac Y: The E. coli gene that encodes
galactoside permease. Lac Z The E. coli gene that encodes β-galactosidase

Lactose: A two-part sugar or disaccharide composed of two simple sugars, galactose and glucose.

Lactose permease: An enzyme responsible for transpon of lactose from the environment into
bacteria.

Ladder gel: Stepladder gel.

Lagging strand: Strand of DNA is being replicated discontinuously.
Lambda (λ) phage: A temperate phage of E. coli can replicate lytically or lysogenically.

Lambda (λ) repressor: The protein that forms a dimer and binds to the lambda operators O R and OL
thus repressing another phage genes except the repressor gene itself.

Lamella: A double-membrane structure, plate, or vesicle that is formed by two membranes lying
parallel to each other.

Lampbrush chromosomes: Large diplotene chromosomes present of amphibian oocytes having

loops, which are active sites of transcription that are suggestive of a lampbrush.

Laparoscope:A thin, lighted telescope-like viewing instrument that is inserted through a small
incision or natural orifice to examine and operate on abdominal and pelvic structures. Similar
technology is used in an endoscope. “Laparo” is derived from the Greek root for abdomen and
pelvis; however devices similar to laparoscopes are used for other parts of the body such as
thoroscopes for chest surgery.

Lariat structure: Structure of an intron immediately after excision in which the 5' end loops back
and forms a 5'-2' linkage with another nucleotide.

Lariat: The name given the lasso-shaped intermediate in certain splicing reactions.

74
Laser Doppler Imaging:A technique used to measure the total local microcirculatory blood
perfusion including the perfusion in capillaries, arterioles, venules and shunting vessels. The
technique is based on the emission of a scanning beam of laser light and the Doppler shift that occurs
when light particles hit moving blood cells.

Late genes: The last phage genes to be expressed. By definition, their transcription begins after the
onset of phage DNA replication. Phage structural proteins are generally encoded by late, genes.

Latent period: The time between infection of a bacterium by a phage and the appearance of progeny
phages in the medium this is also called the lag period.

Leader (Leader polypeptide): A sequence of untranslated bases at the 5'-end of an mRNA.

Leader peptide gene: A small gene within the attenuator control region of a repressible amino acid
operon. Translation of the gene tests the concentration of amino acids in the cell.
Leader transcript: The messenger RNA transcribed by the attenuator region of a repressible amino
acid operon. The transcript is capable of several alternative stem lop structures, depending on the
translation of a short leader peptide gene.
Leading strand: The DNA strand is made continuously in semidiscontinuous DNA replication and
whose complement is synthesized as a continuous unit.

Leptonema (leptotine stage): The first stage of prophase-1 of meiosis, in which chromosomes
become distinct and visible in the light microscope as unpaired thread-like structures.

Lethal allele: An allele that causes mortality. A recessive lethal causes mortality only when
homozygous.

Lethal equivalent alleles: Alleles whose summed effect is that of lethality for examples four alleles,
each of which would be lethal 25% of the time (or to 25% of their barears) are equivalent to one
lethal allele.
Lethal gene: Lethal genes kill each and every individual that carries them in the appropriate
genotype. It is usually recessive.
Lethal: Separation of two or more plants, strains or population to prevent mating among them. It is
usually recessive; achieved by distance and/or border rows.
Leucine zipper: A domain in a DNA binding protein that includes several leucines spaced at regular
intervals. It appears to permit formation of a dimer with another leucine zipper protein. The dimer is
then empowered to bind to DNA.

Leukemia: Cancer of the bone marrow resulting in excess production of leukocytes.

Level of significance: The probability value in statistics used to reject the null hypothesis.

75
Lex A: The product of the E. coli lex a gene. It is a repressor that represses among other things. It is
also known as the umudc operon.

Liability: Risk particularly toward a threshold type of quantitative trail.

Library: Gene library.

Ligand: The molecule that binds to a specific receptor.

Ligase: An enzyme that joins the ends of two strands of nucleic acid.

Ligation: The joining of two or more DNA molecules by covalent bonds.

Light repair: Direct repair of a thymine dimer by the enzyme DNA photolyase.

Line breeding: A system of breeding in which a number of genotypes, which have been progeny
tested in respect to some character or group of characters are composited to form a variety.
LineTester analysis: The estimation of GCA and SCA effects and variances from progenies
developed by mating each of the several lines to each of a set of selected testers; additive and
dominance variances are estimated from GCA and SCA variances.
Line: A group of individuals having common parents or ancestors.
Lineage diagram: A diagram of cell lineages and their developmental fates.
Linkage disequilibrium: The condition among alleles at different loci such that allelic combinations
in a gamete do not follow product rule of probability.
Linkage group: The set of genes present together in chromosomein a species, there are as many
linkage groups as there are homologus.

Linkage map: A linear or circular diagram that shows the relative positions of genes on a
chromosome as determined by genetic analysis; also called a generic map.

Linkage number: The number of times one strand of a helix coils about the other.

Linkage value: Recombination fraction expressing the proportion of crossovers versus parental
types in a progeny. The recombination fraction can vary from zero to one half.
Linkage: The physical association of genes on the same chromosome; such genes tend to be
inherited together.

Linker DNA: In generic engineering synthetic DNA fragments that contain restriction-enzyme
cleavage sites used to join two DNA molecules.

Liposomes: Transfecting DNA is delivered to target cells by way of these membrane bound vesicles.

76
Local population: A group of organisms of the same species occupying an area within which most
individual members find their mates; synonymous terms are deme and Mendelian population
Locus (plural: loci): The site (position) of a particular gene (or one of its alleles) on a chromosome.
Used synonymously with the term gene in many instances.

Lod score method: A technique (logarithmic odds) for determining the most likely recombination
frequency between two loci from pedigree data.

Long Interspersed elements (UNEs): Sequences of DNA, up to seven thousand base pairs in
length, interspersed in eukaryotic chromosomes in many copies.

Long terminal repeats: Regions of several hundred base- pairs of DNA found at both ends of the
provirus of retrovirus.

Loss-of-function mutation: A mutation that eliminates gene functions; also called a null mutation.

Lost allele: An allele no longer presents in a population; its frequency is O.

Lsogenic stocks: Strains of organisms those are genetically uniform; completely homozygous.

LTR (Long terminal repeat): A DNA sequence present at each of the ends of a retrotransposon.

Luxury genes: Genes that code for specialized cell products.

Lycogenic cycle: In temperate bacteriophage the phenomenon in which the DNA of an infecting
phage becomes pair of the generic material of the cell.

Lymphocyte: A general class of white blood cells that are important components of the immune
system of vertebrate animals.
Lymphoma: Cancer of the lymph nodes and spleen that (causes excessive production of
lymphocytes).
Lyon hypothesis: The hypothesis that suggests that the Barr body is an inactivated X chromosome.
Lyonized chromosome: An X chromosome in a female mammal that is composed entirely of
heterochromatin and is genetically inactive.
Lysate: The contents released from a lysed cell.
Lysis: Rupturing the membrane and cell wall of a cell following infection by a virus.
Lysogen: Clone of bacterial cells that have acquired a prophage.
Lysogenic bacteria: Bacteria harboring temperate bacteriophages.

Lysogenic: The state of a bacterial cell that has an integrated phage (prophage) in its chromosome.
Lytic cycle: The life cycle of a phage, in which progeny phages are produced and the host bacterial
cell is lysed.

77
M
M period: Cell cycle.

M1, M2. M3, ...... Symbols used to designate first, second, third, ........ generations after treatment
with a mutagenic agent.
Macromolecule: A large molecule; term used to identify molecules of proteins and nucleic acids.

Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE):A special MRI technique to capture snapshots of shear
waves that move through the tissue and create “elastograms” or images that show tissue stiffness.
MRE is used to non-invasively detect hardening of the liver caused by chronic liver disease. MRE
also has the potential to diagnose diseases in other parts of the body.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI):A non-invasive imaging technology used to investigate
anatomy and function of the body in both health and disease without the use of damaging ionizing
radiation. It is often used for disease detection, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring. It is based on
sophisticated technology that excites and detects changes in protons found in the water that makes up
living tissues
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS):A non-invasive analytic imaging technique used to
study metabolic changes in diseases affecting the brain, including tumors, strokes, and seizures. The
technique is also used to study the metabolism of other organs. MRS complements MRI as a non-
invasive means for the characterization of tissue, by providing measure of the concentration of
different chemical components within the tissue.
Maintainer line: Line used for maintaining a cytoplasmic male sterile line. It has the same nuclear
genotype as the male sterile line.
Major groove: In B form DNA the larger of two continuous indentations running along the outside
of the double helix.

Major histocompatibility complex: A group of highly polymorphic genes whose products appear
on the surfaces of cells, imparting to them the property of self (belonging to that organism). Some
other functions are also involved.

Male Sterility: Absence or nonfunctional pollen in plants.

Mammography:An X-ray imaging method used to image the breast for the early detection of cancer
and other breast diseases. It is used as both a diagnostic and screening tool.
MAP kinase (mitogen activated protein kinase): A group of protein kinases that phosphorylate
proteins, some of which are transcription factors, in response to mitogens (mitosis-inducing
substances). The net result of this protein phosphorylation is usually cell division

Map unit (Centimorgan; Crossover unit): The distance separating two genetic loci that recombine
with a frequency of 1%. Technically the map distance across an interval in map units equals one-half

78
the average number of crossovers in the interval expressed as a percentage. Map units are sometimes
called centimorgans.

Map-based cloning: A strategy of gene cloning based on the position of a gene in the genetic map;
also called positional cloning mapping function The mathematical relation between the generic map
distance across an interval and the observed percentage of recombination in the interval.

Mapping function: The mathematical relationship between measured map distance in a given
experiment and the actual recombination frequency.

Mapping: The process of locating the positions of genes on chromosomes.

Marker: A gene or mutation that serves as a signpost at a known location in the genome.

Masked mRNA: Messenger RNA that cannot be translated until specific regulatory substances are
available; present in eukaryotic cells particularly eggs; storage mRNA.

Mass-Pedigree method: A system of breeding in the segregating generations are maintained as a

bulk till such time when conditions suitable for selection occur; at this stage pedigree method of
breeding is applied.
Mass selection: A form of selection in plant and animal breeding in which several plants are selected
on the basis of their phenotype and their seed is composited to raise the next generation.
Mate-killer: A Paramecium phenotype induced intracellular bacteria like mu particles.

Maternal effect gene: A gene that influences early development through its expression in the
mother and the presence of the gene product in the oocyte.

Maternal effect: Trait controlled by a gene of the parents genotype but expressed in the progeny.

Maternal inheritance: Inheritance controlled through extrachromosomal (i.e., cytoplasmic factors)

factors that are transmitted through the egg.

Maternal message: An mRNA made in great quantity during oogenesis, then stored.

Maternal PKU: A condition that resembles phenylketonuria and results from embryonic
development in the uterus of a woman deficient in phenylalanine hydroxylase.

Mating type: In many species of microorganism individuals can be divided into two mating types.
Mating can take place only between individuals of opposite mating types due to the interaction of
cell surfaces components.
Maturation: The formation of gametes or spores.

79
Maturation-promoting factor (MPF): A protein complex of cyclin band p34cdc2 that initiates
mitosis during the cell cycle. It is also called the mitosis-promoting factor.

MCS: Multiple cloning site polylinker.

Mean fitness of the population: The sum of the fitnesses of the genotypes of population weighted
by their proportions hence a weighted mean fitness.

Mean fitness: The sum of the product of the relative fitness and the frequency of the genotypes in
the population; symbolized as w.

Mean: The arithmetic average mega base pair unit of length of a duplex nucleic acid molecule; equal
to I million base pairs.

Megabase pair: One million base pairs.

Meiosis: The process of nuclear division in gametogenesis or sporogenesis division that produces
gametes (or spores) having half the number of chromosomes of the parental cell in which one
replication of the chromosomes is followed by two successive divisions of the nucleus to produce
four haploid nuclei; important source of variability through recombination..

Meiotic drive: Gametic selection.

Melanin: Brown or black pigment.

Melocyte: A germ cell that undergoes meiosis to yield gamete in animals or spores in plants.

Mendelian genetics: (Transmission genetics): The mechanism of inheritance in which the statistical
relations between the distributions of traits in successive generations result from (I) paniculate
hereditary determinants (genes), (2) random union of gametes and (3) segregation of unchanged
hereditary determinants in the reproductive cells.

Mendelian population: A natural interbreeding unit of sexually reproducing plants or animals

sharing a common gene pool.

Mericloning: Vegetative multiplication through meristem culture; this term is not in common use.
Meristem Culture: Cultivation of apical meristems, particularly of shoot apical meristem, for the
production of shoots and plantlets.
Meristem: The mitotically active growing point of plant tissue.

Meristic trait: A trait in which the phenotype is determined by counting such as number of ears on a
stalk of corn and number of eggs laid by a hen.

80
Merodiploid: A bacterium that is only partially diploid-that is, diploid with respect to only some of
its genes

Merozygote (merodiploid): A bacterial cell having a second copy of a particular chromosomal

region in the form of an exogenote. An exogenote may be introduced into a bacterial cell in the
formation of a merozygote.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells:A term used to define non-blood adult stem cells from a variety of
tissues. However, it is not clear whether mesenchymal stem cells from different tissues are the same.
Mesoderm: The middle layer of embryonic cells, which develops into connective tissue, muscle and
blood.

Messenger RNA (mRNA): A complementary copy of a gene that is translated into a polypeptide at
the ribosome. In eukaryotes the primary transcript undergoes elaborate processing to become the
mRNA.

Metabolic cell: A cell that is not dividing.

Metabolic pathway: A set of chemical reactions that take place in a definite order to convey a
particular starting molecule into one or more specific products.

Metabolism: Sum total of all chemical processes in living cells by which energy is provided and
used.

Metabolite: Any small molecule that serves as a substrate an intermediate or a product of a

metabolic pathway.

Metacentric chromosome: Chromosome with the centromere in the middle and two arms of about
equal length or almost equal in length.

Metafemale (superfemale): A fruit fly (Drosophila) with an X/A ratio greater than unity. In
abnormal female, usually sterile; with an excess of X chromosomes compared with sets of autosomes
(e.g., XXX; AA).

Metagon: RNA necessary for the maintenance of mu particles in Paramecium.

Metaphase plate: The plane of the equator of that spindle into which chromosomes are positioned
during metaphase on which the centromeres of the chromosomes are aligned by the spindle fibers.

Metaphase: In mitosis meiosis I. or meiosis II the stage of nuclear division in which the centromeres
of the condensed chromosomes are arranged in a plane between the two poles of the spindle and
arranged in an equatorial plate; stage following prophase and preceding anaphase.

81
Metastasis: The spread or migration of cancer cells to previously unaffected organs through the
blood or lymph system to establish secondary (metastatic) tumors.

Metaxenia (Xenia): Effect or influence of pollen grains on maternal tissues of fruits.

Metrical variation: Continuous variation.

mHealth: An abbreviation for mobile health, which is the practice of medicine and public health
supported with mobile devices such as mobile phones for health services and information
Microcentre: Area within a centre of origin that shows a greater diversity than the remaining centre
of origin.
Microconidium: The small, male gamete of the mold Neurospora.

Microfluidics: A multidisciplinary field including engineering, physics, chemistry and

biotechnology involving the design of systems for the precise control and manipulation of fluids on a
small, sub-millimeter scale. Typically fluids are moved, mixed, separated or processed in various
ways.
Microparticle: Particles between 0.1 and 100 m in size. A m is a micrometer, which is one-
millionth of a meter. Man-made microparticles include ceramics, glass, polymers and metals. In
biological systems, microparticles are small membrane- bound vesicles derived from cells circulating
in the bloodstream. Microparticles are generally 1000 times larger than nanoparticles.
Microscopy: Using microscopes to view samples and objects that cannot be seen with the unaided
eye.
Microsatellite instability: The tendency of a given copy of a microsatellite to change size from
parent to offspring, or even within an organism's lifetime.

Microsatellite DNA: Repeats of very short sequences of DNA, such as CACACACA, dispersed
throughout the eukaryotic genome. The loci can be studied by polymerase chain reaction
amplification. A given microsatellite is found in varying lengths, scattered around a eukaryotic
genome.

Microtubule organizing center: Active center from which microtubules are organized. The spindles
are organized by the centrosome, which may or may not contain centriole.

Microtubules: Hollow cylinders filaments made of the protein tubulin (α and β subunits) that make
up, among other things, the spindle fibers; component of the mitotic spindle.

Mid parent value: In quantitative genetics, the average of the phenotypes of two mates.

Migration: Movement of organisms among subpopulations; also the movement of molecules in

electrophoresis.

82
Minimal medium: A culture medium for microorganism that contains the minimal necessities for
growth of the wild-type such as simple inorganic salts a carbohydrate, vitamin, organic base,
essential amino acid and other essential compounds; its composition is precisely known.

Minimally Invasive Surgery: A surgical procedure typically utilizing one or more small incisions
through which laparoscopic surgical tools are inserted and manipulated by a surgeon. Minimally
invasive surgery can reduce damage to surrounding healthy tissue, decrease the need for pain
medication, and reduce patient recovery time
Minor groove: In B-form DNA the smaller of two continuous indentations running along the outside
of the double helix.

Minus ten boxes (-10 box): Pribnow box.

Minus thirty-five box (-35 box): An E. coli promoter element centered about 35 bases upstream
from the start of transcription.

Misaicism (mosaics): The condition of being a mosaic.

Mismatch repair: Removal of one nucleotide from a pair that can- not properly hydrogenbond
followed by replacement with a nucleotide that can hydrogenbond.

Missense mutation: A change in a coding sequence of DNA that results in amino acid change in the
corresponding protein.

Mitochondria: Organelles in the cytoplasm of plant and animal cells in which the Krebs cycle and
electron transport reactions take place to produce ATP.

Mitosis: The nuclear division that produce, two daughter cells having nuclei identical to the parental
cell i.e. have the same chromosome number and genetic composition as the parent nucleus.

Mitosis-promoting factor: maturation promoting factor (MPF).

Mitotic apparatus: Mitotic spindle.
Mixed families: Groups of four codons sharing their first two bases and coding for more than one
amino acid.
Model: A mathematical description of a biological phenomenon.

Modern linkage map: A chromosomal map based on the positions of RELP markers along its
length.
Modifier (modifying gene): A gene that affects the phenotypic expression of some other gene.

Molecular clock: A hypothesis suggesting that a regular turnover or replacement of molecular

variants (amino acid or nucleotide substitution) takes place over time.

Molecular evolutionary clock: A measurement if evolutionary time in nucleotide substitutions per

year.
Molecular genetics: The study of the structure and activities of genes at the molecular level.

83
Molecular Imaging: A discipline that involves the visualization of molecular processes and cellular
functions in living organisms. With the inclusion of a biomarker, which interacts chemically with
tissues and structures of interest, many imaging techniques can be used for molecular imaging
including ultrasound, x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging, positron emission
tomography, and single photon emission computed tomography
Molecular imprinting: The event in which there is differential expression of a gene depending on if
it was maternally or paternally inherited.
Moleculer chaperone: A protein that aids in the folding of a second protein. The chaperone stops
proteins from developing structures that would be motionless.
Monocistronic: Generally referring to a messenger RNA that carries the information for only one
gene (cistron).
Monoclonal antibody: The antibody from a clone of cells creating the same antibody. An individual
with multiple myeloma usually produces monoclonal antibodies.
Monohybrids cross: A cross between parents that is heterozygous and differing in only one trait or
in which only one trait is being considered; for example Aa × Aa.

Monohybrid: A genotype that is heterozygous for one pair of alleles; the offspring of a cross
between genotypes that are homozygous for different alleles of a gene. Usually implies
heterozygosity at a single locus under study.

Monomer: A single molecular body that may unite with others to form more complex structures.

Monomorphic: The situation in which all the individuals in a population are the same genetic type
or have the same allele.

Monoploid (haploid): Organism or cell having a single set of chromosomes or one genome
(chromosome number n) i.e. The basic chromosome set.

Monosomic: Condition of an otherwise diploid organism in which one member of a pair of

chromosomes is lacking or missing (2n - 1).

Monozygotic twins: One-egg or identical twins.

Morphogen: A substance that helps to induces differentiation

Morphological mutation: A mutation that have an effect on the morphology, or appearance of an

organism.

Morphological species concept: The concept that organisms are classified in the same species if
they show similar.
Morphology: Study of the form of an organism; developmental history of visible structures and the
comparative relation of similar structures in different organisms.

Morphometry:The measurement of the form of living systems or their parts. In medicine,

morphometry is often used to study changes in brain structure during development, aging and in
response to disease. Researchers can measure anatomical features of the brain in terms of shape,
mass and volume and derive various measures such as grey matter density and white matter
connectivity using neuroimaging techniques and neuroinformatics.
Mosaic embryo: An embryo in which the early blastomere are different from one another.

84
Mosaic: An organism or part of an organism composed of two or more genetically different types of
cells of different genotypes.
mRNA (messenger RNA): A transcript that bear, the information for creation one or more proteins.

Mu particles: Bacterialike particles found in the cytoplasm of Paramecium that impart the mate
killer phenotype.
Multiphoton Microscopy: An imaging technique that uses two or three-photon excitation of a
fluorophore in a specimen. Fluorescence occurs when two or more photons of excitation light are
absorbed by the specimen at the same time. Because excitation occurs only where photons coincide,
there is reduced phototoxicity and photobleaching and greater depth penetration. Because of the
reduced toxicity, the method is ideal for imaging living specimens especially when deep imaging is
required.
Multiscale Modeling:Multiscale modeling uses mathematics and computation to quantitatively
represent and simulate a system at more than onescale while functionally linking the mathematical
models across these scales. Biological and behavioral scales include atomic, molecular, molecular
complexes, sub-cellular, cellular, multi-cell systems, tissue, organ, multi-organ systems,
organism/individual, group, organization, market, environment, and populations.
Multinomial expansion: The terms generated when a multinomial raise to a power.
Multifactorial trait: A trait determined by the combined action of many factors typically some
genetic and some environmental.

Multigene family: A group of genes that are alike in nucleotide sequence or that create polypeptides
with similar amino acid sequences.

Multihybrid: An organism heterozygous at numerous loci.

Multiline vareties: Mixtures of several similar purelines having different genes for disease
resistance.
Multilocation trials: Trials conducted at several locations.
Multiple alleles: A condition in which a particular gene presence in a population in three or more
allelic forms in a population of organisms.

Multiple cloning site (polylinker): A region in certain cloning vectors, such as the puc plasmids and
M13 phage DNAs that contains several limit in tandem. Any of these can be used for supplementing
foreign DNA.

Multiplication rule: The principle that the probability that all of a set of independent events are
realized simultaneously equals the product of the probabilities of the separate events.

Multiplicity of infection (m.o.i.): The ratio of infectious virus (or phage) particles to infectable cells
in an experiment.

Mutability: The ability to change.

Mutable genes: Genes with an unusually high mutation rate.

Mutagen: An agent (An environmental agent, either physical or chemical) that is capable of
increasing or inducing the rate of mutation.

Mutant screen: A type of genetic experiment in which the geneticist seeks to isolate multiple new
mutations that affect a particular trait.

85
Mutant: An organism or cell or generic system that has suffered at least one mutation; also a cell or
organism in which a mutant allele is expressed. It is alternative phenotypes to the wild type the
phenotypes produced by alternative alleles.

Mutation (chromosome): The process by which a chromosome changes structurally, the end result
of this process.
Mutation Breeding: Breeding method utilizing variation created through mutagenesis.
Mutation pressure: A stable mutation rate that adds mutant genes to a population; frequent
occurrences of mutations in a population.

Mutation rate: The proportion of mutations of a new mutation in a particular gene, either per
gamete or per generation; symbolized by u or v.

Mutation:A heritable alteration in a gene or chromosome; also, the process by which such an
alteration happens. Used incorrectly but with increasing frequency, as a synonym for mutant even in
some excellent textbooks. Spontaneous mutations are those that come out without explanation, while
induced mutations are those attributed to a particular mutagenic agent.

Mutation-selection balance: The equilibrium that effects when mutation introduces detrimental
alleles into a population and selection eliminates them.

Mutator mutations: Mutations of DNA polymerase that increase the overall mutation rate of a cell
or of an organism.
Mutator strain: A strain of bacteria that makes more than the usual number of mistakes during
DNA replication, yielding a higher than normal mutation rate.

Muton: A term Benzer coined for the smallest mutable site within a cistron.
Mutually exclusive events: Events such that if one occurs, the other cannot; for example, head and
tails on a coin

Myc: A cellular oncogene, encoding a nuclear protein. That is rearranged in human Burkitt's
lymphoma.

Mycelium (pl., mycelia): Threadlike filament making up the vegetative portion of thallus fungi.

86
N
N- segments: Sequences of nucleotides added in a template free fashion at the joining junctions of
heavy chain antibody genes.
n: Gametic chromosome number of a species.
Nanoparticle:Ultrafine particles between 1 and 100 nanometers in size. The size is similar to that of
most biological molecules and structures. Nanoparticles can be engineered for a wide variety of
biomedical uses including diagnostic devices, contrast agents, physical therapy applications, and
drug delivery vehicles. A nanoparticle is approximately 1/10,000 the width of a human hair.
Nanoparticles are generally 1000 times smaller than microparticles.
Nanotechnology:The manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100
nanometers. Research areas include surfacescience, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, and
microfabrication. Applications are diverse and include device physics, molecular self-assembly, and
precisely manipulating atoms and molecules

Narrow-sense heritability: In quantitative genetics, the fraction of the phenotypic variance revealed
as resemblance between parents and offspring; technically the ratio of the additive genetic variance
to the total phenotypic variance.

National Trial: In some crops, e. g., wheat; the topmost entry CVT or URT of each zone is
evaluated in an IET throughout the country to assess if an entry developed in one zone would
perform well enough for release as a variety in enough for release as a variety in another zone of the
country.
Natural selection: The process of evolutionary processes in which the differential survival and
reproduction in nature that favors individuals that are better adapted to their environment;
elimination of less fit organisms.

Near-Isogenic Lines: Isogenic line.

Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS):A spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region of
the electromagnetic spectrum for pharmaceutical and medical diagnostics, typically measurements of
blood sugar and blood oxygen levels

Negative control: A control method in which gene appearance is turned off unless a controlling
element (e.g., a repressor) is removed.

Negative interference: The phenomenon whereby a crossover in a particular region facilities the
occurrences of other apparent crossovers in the same region of the chromosome.
Negative Selection: The selection condition does not allow the variant cells to divide, while normal
cells go no dividing.
N-end rule: The life span of a protein is determined by its amino terminal (N-terminal) amino acid.
Neo-Darwinism: The Merger of classical Darwinian evolution (natural selection) with population
genetics.
Neoplasm: New growth of abnormal tissue.

87
Neuroimaging:Includes the use of a number of techniques to image the structure and function of the
brain, spinal cord, and associated structures.
Neuroprosthetics:A broad discipline of neuroscience and biomedical engineering concerned with
developing devices that can substitute a motor, sensory or cognitive function lost due to injury or
disease. Examples encompass a wide range including cochlear implants, visual prosthetics, and
brain-computer interfaces for conscious control of movement in paralyzed individuals.
Nuclear Medicine:A medical specialty that uses radioactive tracers (radiopharmaceuticals) to assess
bodily functions and to diagnose and treat disease. Diagnostic nuclear medicine relies heavily on
imaging techniques that measure cellular function and physiology. read less
Neutral gene hypothesis: The hypothesis that most genetic variation in natural populations is not
maintained by natural selection.
Neutral theory: The theory that the evolution of traits with little or no effects on fitness is a random
process involving mutation and genetic drift.

N-forrnyl methionine: The initiating amino acid in prokaryotic translation.

Nick: A single-strand break in a DNA molecule.

Nickase: DNA gyrase.

Nitrocellulose: A type of paper that has been changed chemically so it binds single-stranded DNA.
Commonly used for blotting DNA prior to hybridizing with a labeled probe.

Nitrous acid: HNO2, a chemical mutagen.

Non-autonomous: Refers to organic units that cannot work by themselves; such units require the
help of another unit.

Non-coding strand: Anticoding strand.

Non-disjunction: Failure of separation (abnormal separation) of homologous chromosomes in
mitosis or meiosis and move to opposite poles of the division spindle, resulting in too many
chromosomes in some daughter cells and too few in others.

Nonhistone protein: The proteins remaining in chromatin after the histones are removed.
Nonparental ditype (NDP): An ascus containing two pairs of recombinant spores in Ascomycete
fungi (assuming two segregating loci).
Nonparentals: Recombinants.
Nonpermissive conditions: Those conditions under which a conditional mutant gene cannot work.

Nonrecombinants: In mapping studies, offspring that have alleles arranged as in the original
parents.
Nonselective medium: A growth medium that allows growth of wild type and of one or more
mutant genotypes.

Nonsense codon: One of the messenger RNA sequences (UAA, UAG, UGA) that signals the
termination of translation. These codons tell the ribosome to stop protein synthesis.

Nonsense mutation: A mutation that changes a codon specifying an amino acid into a stop codon
resulting in premature polypeptide chain termination. Includes amber mutations (UAG), ochre
mutations (UAA), and opal mutations (UGA); also called a chain-termination mutation.

88
Nontemplate DNA strand: The strand complementary to the template strand. It is sometimes called
the coding strand, or sense strand.

Norm of reaction: The phenotypic pattern for a given genotype produced under different
environmental conditions.

Normal distribution: Any of a family of bell-shaped frequently curves whose relative positions and
shapes are defined on the basis of the mean and standard deviation; in a normal distribution,
approximately 68 percent of the observations are within I standard deviation from the mean and
approximately 95 percent are within 2 standard deviations.

North Carolina Design I (NCD I): A mating plan used for genetic examination; four random plants
are mated as females to one random plant used as male to create one male group; four male groups
make a set and more than a few sets may be generated in one experiment.
North Carolina Design II (NCD II): Equal number of male and female plants selected randomly
and mated in a diallel fashion to yield m  f number of crosses (m=number of males, f=number of
females).
North Carolina Design III (NCD III): Several random plants chosen from an F2 are backcrossed to
the two parents of the concerned cross.
Northern blot/ Northern blotting: The transfer of RNA molecules from an electrophoretic gel to a
cellulose or nylon membrane by capillary action.

Nturospora crassa: A common bread mold, developed by Beadle and Tatum as a subject for generic
investigation

Nucleoprotein: The substance of eukaryotic chromosome consisting of protein and nucleic acids.
Nuclease hypersensitive site: A region of a eukaryotic chromosome that is especially vulnerable to
nuclease attack because it is not wrapped as nucleasomes.
Nuclease: An enzyme that breaks phosphodiester bonds in nucleic acid molecules.

Nucleic acid hybridization: The formation of duplex nucleic acid from complementary single
strands.

Nucleic acid: A chainlike molecule (DNA or RNA) composed nucleotide links i.e. composed of
phosphoric acid, pentose sugar (five-carbon sugars), and organic bases (nitrogenous bases attachéd);
DNA and RNA.

Nucleocapsid: A structure containing a viral genome (DNA or RNA) with a coat of protein.

Nucleoid: A nonmembrane-bound area of a bacterial cell in which the chromosome resides.

Nucleolar organizer: A chromosomal segment containing genes that control the synthesis of
ribosomal RNA, located at the secondary constriction of some chromosomes.

Nucleolus (nucleoli): An RNA-rich, spherical sack that disappears during part of cell division;
storage place for ribosomes and ribosome precursors in the nucleus of metabolic cells; usually
associated with the nucleolar organizer region. A nucleus may contain several nucleoli.

Nucleoside: A base bound to a sugar either ribose or deoxyribose; a purine or pyramiding base
covalently linked to a sugar.

89
Nucleosome (Nu body): A repeating spherical subunits of eukaryotic chromatin that are composed
of a core of eight histone molecules with about 200 base pairs of DNA wrapped around the outside.

Nucleotide analog: A molecule that is structurally similar to a normal nucleotide and that is
incorporated into DNA.

Nucleotide excision repair: The DNA excision repair mechanism responsible for repeating thymine
dimers and other lesions. Enzymes excise a short segment of one of the DNA strands and then repair
and ligate the DNA.
Nucleotide: The subunit, or chain-link in DNA and RNA, composed of a sugar, a base, and at least
one phosphate group.

Nucleus Seed: Basic Seed

Nucleus: The part of a eukaryotic cell that contains the chromosomes; separated from the cytoplasm
by a membrane.

Null hypothesis: The statistical hypothesis that there are no differences between observed data and
those data expected based on the assumption of no experimental effect.
Null mutation: A mutation that abolishes the express of a gene.

Nulliplex: The condition in which a polyploid is recessive in all chromosomes in respects to a

particular gene. Simplex denotes excessiveness at all loci except one, duplex two, triplex three,
quadriplex four, etc.
Nullisome/ Nullisomic: An otherwise 2n plant lacks that both members of one specific pair of
chromosomes, hence, with 2n-2 chromosomes. An individual having a pair of homlogous
chromosomes less than the somatic chromosome number of the species (chromosome formula 2n-2).
Numarator elements: Genes of the X chromosomes in Drosophila that regulate the sex switch gene
to the on condition.
Nutritional mutation: A mutation that makes an organism dependent on a substance, such as an
amino acid or vitamin that it previously could make for itself.

90
O
Ochre codon: UAA, coding for termination.

Ochre suppressor: A tRNA bearing an anticodon that can recognize the ochre codon (UAA) and
thereby suppress ochre mutations.

Octoploid: Cell or organism with eight genomes or sets of chromosomes (chromosome number 8n).

Off- season Nursery: Growing the breeding materials during the off-season (a season in which the
crop is not grown in the concerned locality) in a location suitable for the purpose; generally to
advance the generation.
Okazaki fragment: Segments of newly replicated DNA produced during discontinuous DNA
replication, 1000-2000 bases long, created by discontinuous synthesis of the lagging strand.

Oligomeric protein: A protein that contains more than one polypeptide subunit

Oligonucleotide primer: A short single-stranded nucleic acid synthesized for use in DNA
sequencing or as a primer in the polymerase chain reaction.

Oligonucleotide: A short piece of RNA or DNA.

Oncogene: A gene that can initiate in causing tumors formation in animals. They are found in the
active state a retroviruses and transformed cells and in the inactive state on nontransformed cells, in
which they are called photo oncogenes.

Oncogenesis: The formation of tumors.

Oncogenic: Tumor causing.

Oncoprotein: A protein encoded by an oncogene which can cause the transformation of a cell into a
tumor cell if introduced into it.
One gene one enzyme hypothesis: Hypothesis of Beadle and Tatum that states that one gene
controls the production of one enzyme. Later modified to the concept that one cistron controls the
production of one polypeptide.
One gene-one polypeptide hypothesis: The hypothesis, now generally regarded as valid, that one
gene codes for one polypeptide.

Oocyte 5S rRNA genes: The 5S rRNA genes (haploid number about 19,500 in Xenopus laevis) that
are expressed only in oocytes.

Oocyte: The egg-mother cell.

Oogenesis: The process of egg or ovum formation in female animals.

Oogonium (oogonia): Cells in females that produce primary oocytes by mitosis.
Opal codon: UGA, coding for termination.

Opal mutation: Nonsense mutation.

Opal suppressor: A tRNA bearing an anticodon that can recognize the opal codon (UGA) and
thereby suppress opal mutations.

91
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT): A technique for obtaining sub-surface images such as
diseased tissue just below the skin. For example, ophthalmologists use OCT to obtain detailed
images from within the retina. Cardiologists also use it to help diagnose coronary artery disease.
Optical Imaging: A technique for non-invasively looking inside the body, as is done with x-rays.
Unlike x-rays, which use ionizing radiation, optical imaging uses visible light and the special
properties of photons to obtain detailed images of organs and tissues as well as smaller structures
including cells and molecules.
Open promoter complex: The complex formed by tight binding between RNA polymerase and a
prokaryotic promoter.

Open reading frame (ORFs): A sequence of nucleotide triplets that lacks a termination codon and
capable of coding for a polypeptide chain.

Open-Pollination: In cross-pollinated species, pollination occurring naturally without restriction.

Operator: A part of an operon (DNA element) found in prokaryotes that binds tightly to a specific
repressor and thereby regulates the expression of adjoining genes. When the operator in complexed
with the repressor transcription is prevented.

Operon: A group of genes coordinately regulated by an operator and a repressor and structural
genes.
Ordinate: The vertical axis in a graph.

Organelle: Specialized part of a cell with a particular functions or function (e.g., cilium of a
protozoan).

Organizer: An inductor; a chemical substance in a living system that determines the fate in
development of central cells or groups of cells.

Origin of replication: The unique spot in a replicon where replication begins.

Origin recognition complex (ORC): A complex of six protiens that bind to the eukaryotic
autonomously replicating sequences (ARS); needed for the initiation of DNA replication in concert
with other proteins.
Otocephaly: Abnormal development of the head of a mammalian fetus.

Outbreeding: The mating of genetically unrelated individuals.

Outcross: A cross, usually natural cross between two different genotypes.
Overdominance: A condition in which heterozygotes are superior (on some scale of measurement)
to either of the associated homozygotes.

Ovule: The macrosporangium of a flowering plant that becomes the seed. It includes the nucellus
and the integuments.

Ovum (Egg): The one functional product of each meiosis in female animals.

92
P
P-(peptidyl) site: The site on the ribosome occupied by the peptidyl tRNA just before peptide bond
formation.
P-element: A transposable element of Drosophila, responsible for hybrid dysgenesis. It can be used
to mutagenize Drosophila deliberately.

P-transposable element: A Drosophila transposable element used for the induction of mutations,
germ line transformation, and other types of genetic engineering.

P: Symbolizes the parental generation or parents of a given individual.

P1, P2, P3, ....: First, second etc., generations from a parent. It is also used to designate different
parents used in making a hybrid or series of hybrids.
PI-artificial chromosome: A plasmid vector containing regions of the bacteriophage PI and a large
inserted DNA fragment.

PAC PI: Artificial chromosome.

Pachynema (pachytene stage): The stage of prophase I of meiosis in which chromatids are first
distinctly visible and the homologous chromosomes are closely synapses. In favorable microscopic
preparations, the chromosomes are visible as long, paired threads. Rarely, four chromatids are
detectable.
Pair-rule gene: A gene that influences the formation of body segements in Drosophila. Mutations in
pair-rule genes result in loss of even- numbered or odd-numbered segments or parasegments.

Palindrome (inverted repeat): A sequence of nucleotides (DNA) in which the base pair sequence
reads the same in both directions from a point of symmetry.

Pammictic population: A population in which mating occurs at random.

Panmictic: Reffering to unstructed (random mating) populations.

Panmixis: Random mating without restriction (usually extended to include random mating under the
restrictions of sex or incompatibility).
Paracentric inversion: An inversion that does not include the centromere.

Paramecin: A toxin liberated by a killer Paramecium.

Parameter: A numerical quantity which specifies or describes a population in respect to some
characteristic of a population. It is a value or measurements of attributes of a population.

Parametric inversion: An inversion that does not include the centromere.

93
Parapetirc speciation: Speciation in which reproductive isolating mechanisms evolve when a
population enters a new niche or habitat within the range of he parent species.
Parasegment: The first series of segments that from in a developing insect embryo, they from after
about 5.5 hours in the developing Drosophila embryo.
Parent strand: In DNA replication the strand that served as the template in a newly formed duplex.

Parental combination: Alleles present in an offspring chromosome in the same combination as that
found in one of the parental chromosomes.

Parental imprinting: Molecular imprinting.

Parthenogenesis: Reproduction in which organisms produce offspring identical to themselves
without fertilization and did not arise by meiotic chromosomal reduction.

Partial Diallel Analysis: A diallel analysis based on a specified sample of crosses from among the
all possible crosses (diallel scheme) among a number of parental lines.
Partial digest: A restriction digest that has not been allowed to go to completion, thus contains
pieces of DNA and have restriction endonucleases sites that have not been cleaved.
Partial diploid: A cell in which a segment of the genome is duplicated usually in a plasmid.

Partial dominance: Incomplete dominance.

Parunixis: Random mating in a population.

Paternal: Pertaining to the father.

Paternity exclusion: The process of using genetic markers to exclude given men as fathers of a
particular child.

Path analysis: A standardised partial regression coefficient analysis, which splits the various
conrrelation coefficients into the measures of direct and indirect effects of a set of independent
variables on a dependent variable.
Path diagram: A modified pedigree showing only the direct line of descent from common
ancestors.
Pathogen: An organism that causes a disease.

Pathotype: Strain of a pathogen virulent toward a specific resistance gene of the host.
Pattern formation: The creation of a spatially ordered and differentiated embryo from a seemingly
homogeneous egg cell.

Pbr322: One of the original plasmid vectors for gene cloning.

PCNA: Proliferating cell nuclear antigen. It is a eukaryotic protein that confers processivity on DNA
polymerase during leading strand synthesis.
94
PCR: Polymerase chain reaction.

Pedigree method: A method of breeding in which individual plants are selected in F2 and the
subsequent generations and a pedigree record is maintained. The pedigree record may be used as a
basis for selection in later generations.
Pedigree: A record of the ancestry of an individual, family or strain. It is a table, a family tree, chart,
or diagram representing the ancestry of an individual (or the familial relationships among relatives).
It illustrates the inheritance of particular genotypes or phenotypes.

Penetrance: The percentage or frequency of individuals that show a particular phenotype among
those capable of showing it. It is the proportion of individuals with a given genotype that express it at
the phenotypic level.
Peptide bond: The bond linking amino acids add subunits together in a protein; a covalent bond
between the amino group (- NH2) of one amino acid and the carboxyl group (-COOH) of another.

Peptide: A compound containing amino acids. A break down or buildup unit in protein metabolism.

Peptidyl transferase: The enzymatic center responsible for peptide bound formation during during
protein synthesis or translation at the ribosme.
Pericentric inversion: A chromosomal inversion including the centromere, hence involving both
arms of a chromosome.

Period: Cell cycle.

Permissive conditions: Those conditions under which a conditional mutant gene can function;
contrasts with the nonpermissive or restrictive condition.

Permissve temperature: A temperature at which temperature sensitive mutants are normal.

PEST hypothesis: Degradation of a protein in less than two hours is signed by a region within the
protein rich in proline (P), glutamic acid (G), serine (S), or theronine (T).
Petite mutations: Mutations of yeast that produce small colonies, like those grown under anaerobic
conditions.
Petite: A slow-growing strain of yeast with defective mitochondria.

Phage Mu: A temperate phage of E. coli that replicates lytically by transposition.

Phage P1: A lytic phage of E. coli used in generalized transduction.

Phage repressor: Regulatory protein that prevents transcription of genes in a prophage.

Phage/ Bacteriophage: A bacterial virus.

95
Phagemid: A plasmid cloning vector with the origin of replication of a single-stranded phage, which
gives it the ability to produce single-stranded cloned DNA upon phage infection.

Pharmacogenetics: Biochemical genetics associated with genetically controlled variations in

responses to drugs.

Phase variation: The replacement of one type of protein in a bacterium's flagella with another type.

Phenocopy: An organism whose phenotype (but not genotype) has been changed by the
environment to resemble the phenotype of a different (mutant) organism.

Phenotype: The observable attributes (characteristics) of an organism. Often only a particular trait of
interest, such as weight, is considered.

Phenylalanine hydroxylase: The enzyme, deficient in phenyl ketonuria, that convens

phenylalanine into tyrosine.

Phenylketonuria (PKU): A hereditary metabolic disorder human condition; (transmitted as a

Mendelian recessive) resulting from the inability to conyen phenylalanine into tyrosine; causes
severe mental retardation unless treated in infancy and childhood via a low-phenylalanine diet.

Phosphodiester bond: The sugar-phosphate diester bond that links the nucleotides in a nucleic acid;
these bonds form the backbone of a nucleic acid molecule.

Photocrosslinking: A technique used to determine which moieties (proteins DNA) are in close
proximity during a particular process.
Photoreactivating enzyme: DNA photolyase.

Photoreactivation: Light repair; the enzymatic splitting of pyrimidine dimers (usually thymines)
produced in DNA by ultraviolet light; requires visible light and the photoreactivation enzyme.

Phyletic evolution: Anagenesis.

Phyletic gradualism: The process of gradual evolutionary change over time.
Phylogenetic: A diagram showing the genealogical the relationship between species or populations,
putatively indicating ancestral relationships.

Phylogeny: Evolutionary history of populations of related organisms.

Physical map: Chromosomal map in which distances are in physical units of base pairs i.e. a genetic
map based on physical characteristics of the DNA, such as restriction sites, rather than on locations
of genes.

Physical Purity: Freedom of seed from inert matter, including broken seeds.

96
Physiological races: Pathogens of the same species with similar or identical morphological but
differing pathogenic capabilities. Unlike pathotype, it has no reference to the resistance genes.
PI generation: The parents used in a cross or the original parents in a series of generations; also
called the P generation if there is no chance of confusion with the grandparents or more remote
ancestors.

Piezoelectric Crystals: Crystals in the transducer of an ultrasound device that vibrate when an
electric signal is applied, emitting high- frequency sound pressure waves. The crystals are the crucial
component of an ultrasound device both producing and detecting the ultrasound waves used to image
structures inside of the body.
Pili (fimbreae): Hairlike projection on the surface of bacteria; Latin for hair.
Plant Breeding: The branch of biology concerned with changing the genotype of plants so that it
become more useful to man.
Plaque assay: An assay for virus (or phage) concentration in which the number of plaques produced
by a given dilution of virus is determined.

Plaque hybridization: A procedure for selecting a phage clone that contains a gene of interest. Dnas
from large number of phage plaques are simultaneously tested with a labeled probe that hybridizes to
the gene of interest.

Plaque: Opaque culture plate of bacteria where the bacteria have been killed by a virus; because
each plaque results from the growth of one phage. The term is also used for animal viruses that cause
clear areas in layers of animal cells grown in culture.

Plaque-forming unit (Pfu): A virus capable of forming a plaque in a plaque assay.

Plasmid: An autonomous self-replicating genetic particle usually of double strand DNA; it may exist
in one or many copies per cell and may segregate in cell division to daughter cells in either a
controlled or a random fashion. It may become integrated into the host chromosome.

Plastid: A chloroplast prior to the development of chlorophyll. Choroplastids, for example, produce
chlorophyll, which is involved in photosynthesis.

Pleiotropic effect: Any phenotypic effect that is a secondary manifestation of a mutant gene.

Pleiotropic mutation: A mutation that affects the expression of several other genes.

Pleiotropy: Phenomenon in which a single gene affects or influences two or more characteristics;
apparently unrelated aspects of the phenotype.
Point centromere: The type of centromere,. Such as that found in Saccharomyces cerevesiae, that
has defined sequences large enough to accommodate one spindle microtubule.

97
Point mutation: An alteration of one, or a very small number that consist of a replacement addition,
or deletion of one or a few bases.

Point-of-Care:Testing and treating of patients at sites close to where they live. Rapid diagnostic
tests are used to obtain immediate, on-site results. The success of the concept relies on portable,
rapid diagnostic devices that provide results directly to the user, which allows health care workers in
remote areas to test and treat patients at the time of the visit
Pol: The gene in a retrovirus that encodes the viral reverse trnnscriptase and RNAase H.

Polar bodies: The small cells that are the byproducts of meiosis in female animals. The first polar
body is produced at division I and may not go through division II. The second polar body is
produced at division II.

Polar mutant: An organism with a mutation, usually within an operon, that prevents the expression
of genes distal to itself.
Polar mutation: Gene mutation that influences the functioning of genes that are downstream in the
same operon.

Polarity: Meaning directionality and referring either to an effect seen in only one direction from a
point of origin or to the fact that linear entries i.e. the 5'-to-3' orientation of a strand of nucleic acid
(such as a single strand of DNA) have ends that differ from each other.
Pole cells: A group of cells in the posterior of Drosophila embryos that are precursors to the adult
germ line.

Pollen Culture: Cultivation of pollen grains in vitro for producing haploid plants (generally referred
to as another culture).
Pollen grain: The male gametophyte in higher plants.
Polyatail: A sequence of adenosine nucleotides added the 3’ end of eukaryotic messenger RNAs.
Polyadenylation: Addition of poly (A) to the 3'-end of RNA.
Poly (A) polymerase: The enzyme that adds poly (A) to an mRNA, or to its precursor.
Polycistrinic: Reffering to messenger RNAs that contain several genes within the same messenger
RNA transcript; found primarily in prokaryotes.

Polycistronic message: An mRNA bearing information from more than one gene.

Polycistronic mRNA: An mRNA molecule from which two or more polypeptides are translated

Polycloning region: A segment of DNA in a cloning vector such as a plasmid that contains many
different restriction enzyme cleavage sites.

Polycross: Open-pollination (assumed to be random mating) in isolation among a number of

selected genotypes; also progeny from such a cross.
Polydactyly: The occurrence of more than the usual number of fingers or toes.

Polygenes: Genes with small and cumulative effect; their expression is greatly affected by the
environment; govern quantitative inheritance.
Polygenic inheritance: Quantitative inheritance.
Polygenic trait: A phenotypic trait determined by a number of genes.

Polyllnker: A short DNA sequence that is present in a vector and that contains a number of unique
restriction sites suitable for gene cloning.
98
Polymer: A compound composed of many smaller subunits; results from the process of
polymerization.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): Repeated cycles of DNA denaturation, renaturation and
polynucleotide synthesis that amplifies a particular DNA sequence.
Polymerase cycling: The process by which a DNA polymerase III enzyme completes an Okazaki
fragment, releases it, and begins synthesis of the next Okazaki fragment.
Polymerase: An enzyme that catalyzes the formation of DNA or RNA.

Polymerization: Chemical union of two or more molecules of the same kind to form a new
compound having the same elements in the same proportions.

Polymerized: Formed into a complex compound by linking together smaller elements.

Polymorphic gene: A gene for which there is more than one relatively common allele in a
population.

Polymorphism: The presence in a population of two or more relatively common forms of a gene
chromosome or genetically determined trait in a population. In practice, a polymorphic gene is one at
which the frequency of the most common allele is than 0.99.

Polynucleotide phosphorylase: An enzyme that can polymerase diphosphate nucleotides without

the need for a primer. The function of this enzyme in vivo is probably in its reverse role as an RNA
exonuclease.
Polynucleotide: A polymer composed of covalently linked nucleotide subunits in DNA or RNA.

Polypeptide (polypeptide chain): A polymer of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. They
are called dipeptides, tripeptides, and so on, according to the number of amino acids present.

Polyploid inheritance: Inheritance of quantitative characters due to the action of polygenes.

Polyploid/ Polyploidy: An organism with greater than two chromosomes sets (2n diploid) or
genomes (e.g., triploid (3n), tetraploid (4n), pentaploid (5n), hexaploid (6n), heptaploid (7n),
octoploid (8n)). Autopolyploids receive all their chromosomes from the same species, while
allopolyploids obtain their chromosomes from two (or more) species.

Polysaccharide capsules: Carbohydrate coverings with antigenic specificity that is present on some
types of bacteria.

Polysome (or polyribosomes): A complex of two or more ribosomes associated with an mRNA
molecule and actively engaged in polypeptide synthesis.

Polysomy: The condition of a diploid cell or organism that has three or more copies of a panicular
chromosome.

Polycross: Open pollination of a group of genotypes (generally selected) in isolation from other
compatible genotypes in such a way as to promote random mating interest.
Polytene chromosomes: A giant chromosome or chromosomes in Diptera that contain many
identical strands laterally apposed and in register, exhibiting a characteristic pattern of transverse
banding. Giant chromosomes produced by interphase replication without division and consisting of
many identical chromatids arranged side by side in a cablelike pattern.

99
Population: A group of organisms of the same species relatively isolated from other groups of the
same species that exist together in time and place and can interbreed. It is an interbreeding group of
plants or animals, the extensive group from which a sample might be taken.

Population cross: A cross between two open-pollinated varieties (Sys., varietal cross).
Population genetics: The branch of genetics that deals with frequencies of alleles and genotypes in
breeding populations. It studies of the variation of genes between and within populations. It is the
application of Mendel's laws and other principles of genetics to entire populations of organisms.

Population improvement: Improvement of random mating populations through a scheme of

selection with or without progeny test. It is essential to keep inbreeding to a low level.
Population substructure: Organization of a population into smaller breeding groups between which
migration is restricted; also called population subdivision.

Position effect: An alternation of phenotype that is dependent on the position of a gene or group of
genes, often caused by heterochromatin that nearby.
Positional cloning: A strategy of gene cloning based on the position of a gene in the genetic map;
also called map-based cloning.

Positional information: Developmental signals transmitted to a cell by virtue of its position in the
embryo.

Positive control: A control system in which gene expression depends on the presence of a positive
effect or such as CAP.

Positive interference: When the occurrence of one crossover reduces the probability that a second
will occur in the same region.
Positive regulation: Mechanism of gene regulation in which an element must be bound to DNA in
an active form to allow transcription. Positive regulation contrasts with negative regulation, in
which; regulatory element must be removed from DNA.

Positive selection: The selection condition allows only the variant cells to survive and proliferate.
Positive strand: The strand of a simple viral genome with the same as the viral mRNA.

Postranscriptional modifications: Changes in eukaryotic messenger RNA made after transcription

has been completed. These changes include additions caps and tails and removal of introns.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET): PET scans use radiopharmaceuticals to create 3
dimensional images. The decay of the radiotracers used with PET scansproduce small particles called
positrons. When positrons react with electrons in the body they annihilate each other. This
annihilation produces two photons that shoot off in opposite directions. The detectors in the PET
scanner measure these photons and use this information to create images of internal organs.
Postrepllcatlon repair (recombination repair): DNA repair that takes place in nonreplicafoling
DNA or after the replication fork is some distance beyond a damaged region.

Posttranscriptional control: Control of gene expression that occurs during the posttranscriptional
phase when transcripts are processed by splicing, clipping, and modification.

Posttranslational modification: The set of changes that Occur in , protein after it is synthesized.

Pp60src: The product of the src gene, a tyrosine protein kinase.

100
PRE: The lambda promoter from which transcription of the repressor gene occurs during the
establishment of the lysogenic state.

Precursor fragment: Okazaki fragment.

Preemptor stem: A configuration of leader transcript messenger RNA that does not terminate
transcription in the attenuator controlled amino acid operons.
Pre-initiation complex (PIC): The form of the RNA polymerase II enzyme with general
transcription factors bound equivalent to the E. coli holoenzyme. Phosphorilation of the enzyme then
allows transcription to begin.
Prepotency: The capacity of a parent to impress characteristics in its offspring so they are more
alike than usual.
Pribnow box (-10 box): A consensus sequence of TATAAT in prokaryotic promoters centered
about ten bases upstream from the start of transcription.
Primary oocytes (or Oocyte): The cells that undergo meiosis in female animals.
Primary spermatocytes: The cells that undergo meiosis in male animals.
Primary structure: The sequence of polymerized amino acids in a polypeptide (protein), or of
nucleotides in a DNA or RNA.

Primary transcript: An RNA copy of a gene; in eukaryotes, the transcript must be processed to
form a translatable mRNA molecule. The product of eukaryotic transcription before
posttranscriptional modification takes place.

Primase: The enzyme within the primosome that actually makes the primer.

Primer: A short nucleotide sequence with a reactive 3'-OH that can initiate DNA synthesis along a
template.

Primosome: A complex of about twenty polypeptides, which makes primers for E. coli DNA
replication.

Prion: Infectious agent responsible for several neurological diseases (scarpie, kuru, Creutzfeld-Jakob
syndrome, mad-cow disease). It is a protein that lacks DNA or RNA.
PRM: The lambda promoter from which transcription of the repressor gene occurs during
maintenance of the lysogenic state.

Probability theory: The conceptual framework concerned with qualification of probabilities.

Probability: The proportion or the expectation of the occurrence of a particular event.
Probe (nucleic acid): In recombinant DNA work a radioactive nucleic acid complementary to a
region being searched for in a restriction digest or genomic library. For example, a radioactive probe
can be used to identify an unknown DNA band after electrophoresis
Processed pseudogene: A pseudogene that has apparently arisen by retrotransposon-like activity:
transcription of a normal gene, processing of the transcript, reverse, transcription, and reinsertion
into the genome.

Processing (of RNA): The group of cuts that occur in RNA precursors during maturation, including
splicing, 5'- or 3'-end clipping, or cutting rRNAs out of a large precursor.

Processivity: The ability of an enzyme to repetitively continue its catalic functions without
dissociating from its substrate. Thus, the longer a DNA or RNA polymerase continues making its
product without dissociating from its template, the more processive it is
101
Product rule: The rule that states that the probability that two independent events will both occur is
the product of their separate probabilities.
Progeny Test: A test of the value of a genotype based on the performance of its progeny.
Progenitor Cells: Progenitor cells are cells that are similar to stem cells but instead of the ability to
become any type of cell, they are already predisposed to develop into a particular type of cell
Programmed cell death: A cell death that happens as part of the normal developmental process.

Prokaryotes: Microorganisms that lack nuclei and that do not undergo meiosis (including bacteria
and blue-green algae); prokaryotic cells divide by fission.

Promoter: A DNA sequence or region at which RNA polymerase binds and initiates transcription;
also, a chemical substance that enhances the transformation of benign cells into cancerous cells.

Proofread: Technically, to read for the purpose to detecting errors for later correction, DNA
polymerase has 3’ to 5’ exonuclease activity, which it uses during polymerization to remove
incorrect nucleotides.
Proofreading: The process the cell uses to check the accuracy of DNA replication as it occurs, and
to replace a mis-paired base with the right one.

Propagule: Plant part used for propagation.

Prophase: The initial stage of mitosis between interphase and metaphase in which chromosomes
coil, condense, and become visible and the spindle apparatus forms. During this phase, the centriole
divides and the two daughter centriole move apart. Each sister DNA strand from interphase
replication becomes coiled and the chromosome is longitudinally double except in the region of the
centromere.

Proplastid: Mutant plastids that do not grow and develop into chloroplasts.
Propositus (proposita): The person through whom a pedigree was discovered.
Prosteplicative repair: A DNA repair process initiated when DNA polymerase bypasses a damaged
area.
Prosthetics:The design, fabrication, and fitting of artificial body parts.
Proteasome: A barrel-shaped cellular organelle for protein breakdown involving theunuiqutin
pathway.
Protein sequencing: Determining the sequence of amino acids in a protein.

Protein: A polymer, or polypeptide, composed of amino acid subunits. Sometimes the term protein
denotes a functional collection of more than one polypeptide (e.g., the hemoglobin protein consists
of four polypeptide chains).

Proteolytic processing: Cleavage of a protein into pieces.

Proteome: From proteins of the genome the complete set of proteins from a particular genome. It is
the protein analogue to genome.
Proteomics: The study of the complete of proteins from a particular genome. It is the protein
analogue to genome.
Protooncogene: A normal cellular gene that can be changed to an oncogene by mutation.

Protoperithecium: The large, female gamete of the mold Neurospora.

Protophos: Strains of organisms that can survive on minimal medium.

102
Protoplast: A plant or bacterial cell from which the wall has been removed.

Prototroph: An organism such as a bacterium that will grow on a defined minimal medium.

Provirus: A double-stranded DNA copy of a retroviral RNA, which inserts into the host genome.

Pseudoalleles: Genes those are functionally but not structurally allelic. Within gene families,
pseudoalleles are alleles that are not expressed.
Pseudoautosomal gene: A gene that occurs on both sex-determining heteromorphic chromosomes.
Pseudoautosomal region: In mammals, a small region of the X and Y chromosome containing
homologous genes.

Pseudodominance: The phenomenon in which a recessive allele shows itself in the phenotype when
only one copy of the allele is present, as in hemiozygous alleles or in deletion heterozygous.
Pseudogene: A nonallelic copy of a normal gene; apparently derived from active genes by mutation.

Pulse labeling: Providing a radioactive precursor for only a short time. For example, DNA can be
pulse labeled by incubating cells N for a short time in radioactive thymidine.

Pulse-chase: The process of giving a short period, or “pulse,” of radioactive precursor so that a
substance such as RNA becomes radioactive, then adding an excess of unlabeled precursor to
“chase” the radioactivity out of the substance.

Punctuated equlibrium: The evolutionary process involving long periods without change (stasis)
punctuated by short periods of rapid speciation.
Punnett square: A diagrammatic representation of a particular cross used for determining the
expected genetic outcome of a mating.

Pure line: A strain homozygous at all loci, ordinarily obtained by successive self-fertilizations in
plant breeding; progeny of a single homozygous self-pollinated plant.
Pureline Selection: Isolatoin of purelines from a mixture of purelines (Synonym- individual plant
selection).
Purines: Nitrogenous bases of which guanine and adenine are found in DNA and RNA.
Puromycin: An antibiotic that resembles an aminoacyl-tRNA and kills bacteria by forming a peptide
bond with a growing polypeptide and then releasing the incomplete polypeptide from the ribosome.

Pyrimidine dimmer: Two adjacent pyrimidine bases, typically thymines, in the same
polynucleotide strand, between which chemical bonds have formed; the most common lesion formed
in DNA by exposure to ultraviolet light.

Pyrimidine: The parent nitrogenous base of cytosine, thymine, and uracil is found in DNA, uracil in
RNA, and cytosine in both.

103
Q
Quadriallel Analysis: Analysis based on double crosses obtained by crossing in homozygous lines
in a diallel fashion, and then crossing the F1, so generated according to a diallel scheme with the
restriction that in any double cross a homozygous line must not occur more than once as a parent.

Qualitative character: A character in which variation is discontinuouss.

Quantitative character: A character in which variation is continuous so that classification into

discrete categories is not possible. It is an inheritance of measurable traits (height, weight, color
intensity) that depend on the cumulative action of many genes, each producing a small effect on the
phenotype.

Quantitative trait loci (QTL): Chromosomal regions contributing to the inheritance of a

quantitative trait. These regions may contain one or more polygenes that contribute to the phenotype.

Quantitative trait: A trait such as height or weight that generally has a continuous, distribution in a
population and is usually affected by many genes, and many environmental factors.

Quantitative variation: Continuous variation.

Quarantine: Isolation of an organism for observation on weeds, diseases and pests and for
preventing their spread.

Quaternary structure: The association of polypeptide subunits to from the final structure of a
protein.

Quenching: Quickly chilling heat-denatured DNA to keep it denatured

104
R
R factors: R plasmids.
R-group: Side chain.

R-plasmid: A bacterial plasmid that carries drug-resistance genes; commonly used in genetic
engineering.

Race: A distinguishable group of organisms of a particular species.

Radiation:The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles,

especially high-energy particles that cause ionization.

Radioactive isotope: An unstable isotope (form of an atom) that emits ionizing radiation.

Radiopharmaceuticals/radioactive tracers: Radioactive tracers are made up of carrier molecules

that are bonded tightly to a radioactive atom. The carrier molecule is designed to bind to the tissue
being examined so that the radioactive atom can be scanned to produce an image from inside the
body.
Raman Spectroscopy:This technique relies on inelastic scattering of visible, near-infrared, or near-
ultraviolet light that is delivered by a laser. The laser light interacts with molecular vibrations in the
material being examined, and shifts in energy are measured that reveal information about the
properties of the material. The technique has a wide variety of applications including identifying
chemical compounds and characterizing the structure of materials and crystals. In medicine, Raman

gas analyzers are used to monitor anesthetic gas mixtures during surgery .
Random genetic drift: Fluctuation in allele frequency from generation to generation in small
breeding populations due to chance.

Random mating: The mating of individuals in a population in which mating pairs are formed
independently of genotype and phenotype.

Random spore analysis: In fungi, the genetic analysis of spores collected at random rather than
from individual tetrads.

Random strand analysis: Mapping studies in organisms that do not keep all the products of meiosis
together.
Random: Arrived at by chance without discrimination.
Randomization: Process of making assignments at random.
Random-mating population: A group of individuals in which the probability of members mating
with individuals of particular types is equal to their frequency in the population.

Range: The difference between the highest and the lowest values of observations in a sample.
105
Ras: A family of oncogenes, found in several human tumors, that encode a G protein called p21.

Rate of allelic substitution: The rate of replacement of alleles in a population if amino acid or
nucleotide sequences are known, the rate of amino acid or nucleotide substitution can be calculated.

Read through: Transcription or translation beyond the normal termination signals in DNA or RNA
respective.
Reading frame: One of three possible ways the triplet codons in an mRNA can be translated. For
example, the message CAGUGCUCGAC has three possible reading frames, depending on where
translation begins: (1) CAG UGC UCG; (2) AGU GCU CGA; (3) GUG CUC GAC. A natural
mRNA generally has only one correct reading frame. The reading frame actually used is defined by
the AUG-codon that is selected for chain initiation.

Real value of seed: The percentage (by weight) of a seed sample that would produce seedlings of
the variety under certification.
Realized heritability: Heritabilitywhich is measured by a response to selection.
Reca: The E. coli gene that encodes the reca protein, which is involved in homologous
recombination, and also functions as a protease during the SOS response.

Recessive: An allele or trait (or phenotype) that does not express itself in the heterozygous
condition; for example, a is recessive to A because the phenotype for Aa is like AA and not like aa.

Recipient parent (Recurrent parent): In backcross breeding; the parent to which one or few genes
from the donor parent are transferred.
Reciprocal cross/ Reciprocal matings: Crosses that is identical genetically except that the male and
female parents are switched. Cross in which the line previously used as male is used as female,
while that previously used as female is now used as male. A cross in which the sexes of the parents
are the reverse of those in another cross for example, female A x male B and male A x female B are
reciprocal crosses.

Reciprocal translocation: Interchange of parts between nonhomologous chromsomes.

Recognition helix: The α helix in a DNA-binding motif of a DNA-binding protein that fits into the
wide groove of its DNA target and makes sequence-specific contacts that define the specificity of the
protein. In effect, the recognition helix recognizes the specific sequence of its DNA target.

Recombinant DNA technology: Techniques of gene cloning. Recombinant DNA refers to the
hybrid of foreign and vector DNA (gene cloning).
Recombinant DNA: A DNA molecule composed of one or more segments from other DNA
molecules. It can occur naturally in a cell, or be fashioned by geneticists in vitro.

106
Recombinant plasmid: A plasmid that contains an inserted piece foreign DNA.
Recombinant: A chromosome that results from crossing-over and that carries a combination of
alleles differing from that of either chromosome participating in the crossover; the cell or organism
that contains a recombinant chromosome. In mapping studies, offspring with allelic arrangements
made up to a combination of the original parental alleles.

Recombination nodule: Proteineaous nodules found on bivalents during zygonema and pachynema
associated with crossing over.
Recombination repair: A mechanism that E. coli cells use to replicate DNA containing thymine
dimers. First, the two strands are replicated, leaving a gap across from the dimer. Next,
recombination between the progeny duplexes places the gap across from normal DNA. Finally, the
gap is filled in using the normal DNA as template.

Recombination: Exchange of parts between DNA molecules or chromosomes; the production of

gene combinations not found in the parents by the assortment of nonhomologous chromosomes and
crossing-over between homologous chromosomes during meiosis. For linked genes, the frequency of
recombination can be used to estimate the genetic map distance; however, high frequencies
(approaching 50 percent) do not yield accurate estimates. Recombination in eukaryotes usually
entails a reciprocal exchange of parts but in prokaryotes it is often nonreciprocal. Nonetheless, the
term usually refers to recombination by crossing over.
Recon: A term Benzer coined for the smallest recombinable unit within a cistron.
Recruitment: The process in which a transcriptional activator protein interacts with one or more
components of the transcription complex and attracts it to the promoter.

Recurrence risk: The probability that a given genetic disease will recur in a family, given that one
individual (or more) in the family has already exhibited the disease.

Recurrent parent: The parent to which successive backcrosses are made in backcross breeding.
Recurrent selection: In cross-pollinated population; on the basis of phenotype or progeny test
schemes of selection, followed by intermitting (in all combinations) of the selected plants or their
selfed progeny to produce the population for the next cycle of selection. More than one cycle of
selection practiced.
Red-green color blindness: Color blindness.

Reductional division: Term applied to the first meiotic division because the chromosome number
(counted as the number of centromeres) is reduced from diploid to haploid. It is a phase of meiosis in
which the maternal and paternal chromosomes of the bivalent separate.

Redundancy: The feature of the genetic code in which an amino acid corresponds to more than one
codon; also called degeneracy.
107
Regenerative Medicine: A broad field that includes tissue engineering but also incorporates
research on self-healing – where the body uses its own systems, sometimes with the help of foreign
biological material to rebuild tissues and organs.
Regional centromere: The type of centromere found in higher eukaryotes that can accomodate
several spindle microtubles.
Registered seed: The progeny of foundation seed normally grown to produce certified seed.
Regulative embryo: An embryo in which the early blastomeres are indistinguishable from one
another.

Regulator gene: A gene primarily involved in control of the production of another genes product.
Example: The lac i gene produces a protein that controls the expression of the structural genes of the
lac operon in Escherichia coli.

Rehabilitation Engineering:The use of engineering science and principles to develop technological

solutions and devices to assist individuals withdisabilities, and aid the recovery of physical and
cognitive functions lost because of disease or injury.
Reinitiation: The initiation of translation by a ribosome that has just completed translation of a
region of the messenger RNA upstream of the current point of initiation.
Relative fitness (Drawinian fitness): The fitness of a genotype expressed as a proportion of the
fitness of another genotype; the relative ability of different genotypes to pass all their alleles to future
generations.

Relaxed mutant: A mutant that does not exhibit the stringent response under amino acid starvation.
Release factors (RF1 and RF2): Proteins in prokaryotes responsible for termination of translation
and release of the newly synthesized polypeptide when a nonsense codon appears in the A site of the
ribosome.
Renaturation of DNA (annealing of DNA): In nucleic acid biochemistry, this term usually refers to
the formation of a double-stranded helix from complementary single-stranded molecules.

Rep helicase: The product of the E. coli rep gene.

Repetitive DNA: DNA made up of copies of the same neucleotide sequence in a haploid genome.
Replacement vector: A cloning vector derived from a phage, in which a significant part of the
phage DNA is removed, and must be replaced by a similar segment of foreign DNA.

Replica plating: A technique or procedure in which a particular spatial pattern of colonies on an

agar surface is reproduced on a series of agar surfaces by stamping them with a template that
contains an image of the pattern; the template is often produced by pressing a piece of sterile velvet
upon the original surface, which transfers cells from each colony to the cloth.

Replicating fork: The point where the two parental DNA strands are separated to allow replication.
108
Replication (DNA replication): Bidirectional replication of a circular DNA molecule, starting from
a single origin of replication; a duplication process that is accomplished by copying from a template
(e.g., reproduction at the level of DNA).

Replication coupling assembly factor: A protein complex in fruitflies that assembles new
nucleosomes.
Replication origin: The base sequence at which DNA synthesis begins.

Replication slippage: The process in which the number of copies of a small tandem repeat can
increase or decrease during replication.

Replicative transposition: Transposition in which the transposon DNA replicates, so one copy
remains in the original location as another copy moves to the new site.

Replicon: A unit of replication; a DNA molecule that has a replication origin. The entire DNA
replicated from one origin of replication. In bacteria, replicons are associated with segments of the
cell membrane that control replication and coordinate it with cell division.

Replisome: The large complex of polypeptides, including the primosome, which replicates DNA in
E. coli.

Reporter systems: Genetic contracts that allow an investigator to determine that a specific locus is
active by measuring the phenotypic expression of an associated locus, such as luciferase reporter,
which glows if watered with luciferin.
Repressed: When an operon repressed, it is turned off or inactive.

Repressible enzyme: An enzyme whose synthesis is diminished by a regulatory molecule.

Repressible system: A coordinated group of enzymes involved in a synthetic pathway (anabolic) is

repressible if excess quantities of the end product of the pathway lead to the termination of
transcription of the genes for the enzymes. These systems are primarily prokaryotic operons.
Repressible transcription: A regulatory process in which a gene is temporarily rendered unable to
be transcribed.

Repressor: A protein that binds specifically to a regulatory sequence adjacent to a gene and blocks
transcription of the gene.

Reproductive isolating mechanisms: Environmental, behavioral, mechanical and physiological

barriers that prevent two individuals of different populations from producing viable progeny.
Reproductive success: The relative production of offspring by a particular genotype.
Repulsion (tRNAs arrangement or trails configuration): Allelic arrangement in which each
homologous chromosome has mutant and wild type alleles; for example, a +/a + x +
109
Res sites: Sites on the two copies of a transposon in a cointegrate, between which recombination
occurs to accomplish resolution.

Resistance factor: A plasmid that confers antibiotic resistance to a bacterium.

Resistance transfer factor: Infectious transfer part of R plasmids.

Resolution: The second step in transposition through a cointegrate intermediate; it involves
separation of the co-integrate into its two component replicons, each with its own copy of the
transposon.

Resolvase: The enzyme that catalyzes resolution of a cointegrate.

Restitution nucleus: A nucleus with unreduced or doubled chromosome number that results from
the failure of a meiotic or mitotic division.

Restricted transduction: Specialized transduction.

Restriction digests: The results of the action of a restriction endonuclease on a DNA sample.
Restriction endonucleases (Restriction enzyme): An enzyme that recognizes specific base
sequences in DNA and cuts at or near those sites. They protect cells from viral infection; they are
useful in recombinant DNA work.
Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP): Genetic variation in a population in banding
patterns of electrophoresed restriction digest. Associated with the size of restriction fragments that
contain sequences homologous to a particular probe DNA; the polymorophism results from the
positions of restiriction sites flanking the probe and each variant is essentially a different allele.

Restriction fragment: A piece of DNA cut from a larger DNA by a restriction endonuclease.

Restriction map: A physical map or diagram of a DNA molecule that shows the locations of
restriction sites in a region of DNA.
Restriction site: A sequence of DNA bases recognized and cut by a restriction endonuclease.

Restrictive condition (Nonpermissive conditions): A growth condition in which the phenotype of a

conditional mutation is expressed.

Restrictive temperature: A temperature at which temperature sensitive mutants display the mutant
phenotype.
Reticulocyte: A young red blood cell.

Retinoblastoma: A childhood cancer of immature retina cell; an inherited cancer caused by a

mutation in the tumor-suppressor gene located in chromosome band 13q14.

Retroelement: Any of the integrated retroviruses or the transposable elements that resemble them.

Retrotransposons: Transposable genetic elements found in eukaryotic DNA that move through the
reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate.
Retrovirus: A class RNA animal viruses whose replication depends on formation of a provirus by
reverse transcription. It causes the synthesis of DNA complementary to their RNA genomes on
infection.

Reverse genetics: Procedure in which mutations are deliberately produced in cloned genes and
introduced back into cells or the germ line of an organism.

Reverse mutation: A mutation that undoes the effect of a preceding mutation.

110
Reverse transcriptase: An enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of DNA using an RNA template; the
enzyme, commonly found in retroviruses, that catalyzes reverse transcription.

Reverse transcription: Synthesis of a DNA using an RNA template.

Reversion: A mutation that cancels the effects of an earlier mutation in the same gene; restoration of
a mutant phenotype to the wild type phenotype by a second mutation.

RF (replicative form): The circular double-stranded form of the genome of a single-stranded DNA
phage such as ΦXI74. The DNA assumes this form in preparation for rolling circle replication.

RFLP (Restriction fragment length polymorphism): A genetic difference among individuals that
is detected by comparing DNA fragments released by digestion with one or more restriction
enzymes.

Rh factor: Antigen in the red blood corpuscles of certain people. A pregnant Rh-negative woman
carrying an Rh-positive child may develop antibodies, causing the child to develop a hemolytic
disease.

Rho-dependent terminator: A DNA sequence signaling the termination of transcription,

termination requires the presence of the rho protein.
Rho-protein: A protein involved in the termiantion of transcription in E. coli and its phages.
Ribonuclease H (RNAase H): An enzyme that degrades the RNA part of an RNA-DNA hybrid.

Ribonucleoside triphosphates: The building blocks of RNA: ATP, CTP, GTP, and UTP.

Ribose: The five-carbon sugar in RNA.

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA): RNA components of the subunits of the ribosomes that are components
of the ribosomal subunits; in eukaryotes, there are four rRNA molecules-55. 5.85, 185, and 285; in
prokaryotes, there are three-55, 165, and 235.
Ribosomal translocation: Movement of the ribosome along a molecule of messenger RNA in
translation.

Ribosome recycling factor (RRF): A protein needed to prepare ribosomal subunits that have just
finished translating a messenger RNA for another cycle of translation.
Ribosome tRNA-binding sites: The tRNA-bindlng sites on the ribosome to which tRNA molecules
are bound. The aminoacyl site receives the incoming charged tRNA, the peptidyl site holds the tRNA
with the nascent polypeptide chain, and the exit site holds the out going uncharged tRNA.

Ribosome-binding site: The base sequence in a prokaryotic mRNA molecule to which a ribosome
can bind to initiate protein synthesis.

Ribosomes: Cytoplasmic organelles at which translation takes place (proteins are synthesized); an
RNA-protein particle translates mRNAs to produce proteins. They are made up of two subunits
consisting of RNA and proteins. In prokaryotes, the subunits are 305 and 505 panicles; in eukaryotes,
they are 405 and 605 panicles.

Ribozyme: A catalytic or autocatalytic RNA that able to catalyze one or more biochemical reactions.

Ring chromosome: A chromosome whose ends are joined; one that lacks telomeres.

111
Rise period: The time, during which phage-infected cells are lysing, releasing progeny phages to the
medium.

RNA (Ribonucleic acid): A nucleic acid in which the sugar constituent is ribose; typically, RNA is
single-stranded and contains the four bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil. The information-
carrying material in some viruses, more generally, a molecule derived from DNA by transcription
that may carry information (messenger or mRNA), provide sub cellular structure (ribosomal or
rRNA), transport amino acids (transfer or tRNA), or facilitate the biochemical modification of itself
or other RNA molecules.

RNA editing: The insertion of uridines into messenger RNAs after transcription of completed,
controlled by guide RNA. May also involve insertion of cytidines in some organisms or possible
whose deletions of bases.
RNA phages: Phages whose genetic material is RNA. They are the simplest genetic material.
RNA polymerase core: The collection of subunits of a prokaryotic RNA polymerase having basic
RNA chain elongation capacity, but no specificity of initiation; all the RNA polymerase subunits
except the σ factor.

The enzyme that directs transcription or synthesis of RNA by using DNA as a template i.e. by
copying the base sequence of a DNA strands (RNA polymerase also known as transcriptase or RNA
transcriptase).
RNA processing: The conversion of a primary transcript into an mRNA, rRNA, or tRNA molecule;
includes splicing, cleavage modification of termini and (in tRNA) modification of internal bases.

RNA replicase: A polymerase enzyme that catalyzes the self replication of single stranded RNA.
RNA splicing: The process of removing introns from a primary transcript and joining of exons to
each other.

RNA-dependent DNA polymerase: Reverse transcriptase.

Robertsonian fusion: Fusion of two acrocentric chromosomes at the centromere.

Robertsonlan translocation: A chromosomal aberration in which the long arms of two acrocentric
chromosomes become joined to a common centromere.

Robotic Surgery: Surgery performed through very small incisions or natural orifices using thin
finger-like robotic tools controlled remotely by the surgeon through a telemanipulator or computer
interface.
Roentgen (r): Unit of ionizing radiation.

Rogue: A variation from the standard type of a variety or strain.

Rouging: Removal of undesirable individuals to purify the stock.
Rolling-circle replication: A model or a mechanism of DNA replication that accounts for a circular
DNA molecule producing linear daughter double helices.
rRNA (ribosomal RNA): The RNA molecules contained in ribosomes.

RT-PCR: Reverse transcrlptase PCR.

112
S
S1, S2, S3 ….. Symbols for designating first, second, third, etc., selfed generations from an ancestral
plant (S0) from a random mating population.
Sample: A finite series of observations taken from a population.
Sampling distribution: The distribution of frequencies with which various possible events can
occur or a probability distribution defined by a particular mathematical expression.
Sampling error: Deviation of a sample value from the true value owing to the limited size of
sample.
Sarcoma: A malignant tumor of connective tissue (e.g., muscle, bone, cartilage).
Satellite DNA: Highly repetitive eukaryotic DNA primarily located around centromeres. Satellite
DNA usually has a different buoyant density than the rest of the cell’s DNA; consists of short
sequences repeated many times..
Scaffold: A protein-containing material in the eukaryotic chromosomes, believed to'" be responsible
in part for the compaction of chromatin.

Scanning hypothesis: Proposed mechanisms by which the eukaryotic ribosome recognizes the
initiation region of a messenger RNA after binding the 5’ capped end of it. The ribosome scans the
messenger RNA for the initiation codon.
Scientific method: A procedure scientists use to test hypotheses, making predictions about the
outcome of an observation or experiment before the experiment is performed. The results provide
support or refutation of the hypothesis.
Screening technique: A technique to isolate a specific genotype or phenotype of an organism. A
genetic sorting procedure that allows one to distinguish desired organisms from unwanted ones, but
does not automatically remove the latter.
Second meiotic division: The meiotic division in which the centromeres split and the number is not
reduced; also called the equational division.

Secondary oocytes: The cells formed by meiosis I in female animals.

Secondary spermatocytes: The products of the first meiotic division in male animals.
Secondary structure: The flat or helical configuration of the polypeptide, backbone of a protein.
Second-division segregation: Segregation of a pair of alleles into different nuclei in the second
meiotic division the result of crossing- over between the gene and the centromere of the pair of the
homologous chromosomes.

Second-site reversion: A mutation in a site different from that of an original mutation, which
reverses the effect of the original mutation.

113
Secretor: A person with a water-soluble form of blood group antigen A or B. In such a person, the
antigen may be detected in body fluids (e.g; saliva) as well as on the erythromycin.

Securin: An inhibitory protein that prevents separating from acting on chosen to separate sister
chromatids.
Sedimentation coefficient: A measure of the rate at which a molecule or particle travels toward the
bottom of a centrifuge tube under the influence of a centrifugal force.

Seed Certification: Seed certification consists of field inspection and seed tests to ensure genetic
and physical purity and good germination of seed lots, and issuance of a certificate to that effect.
Seed Test: A series of tests on purity, moisture content and germination of a seed sample to
determine its quality.
Seed: Part of a plant used for raising a seed or commercial crop.
Segment: Any of a series of repeating morphological units in a body plan.

Segmentation genes: Genes of developing embryos that determine the segmentation pattern of
animal, (the number and fate of segments) especially an insect.
Segment-polarity gene: A gene that functions to define the anterior and posterior components of
body segments in Drosophila.

Segregating generations: The F2 and the subsequent generations obtained through continued selfing
of a hybrid between two alleles of a gene.
Segregation distorter (SD, gametic selection): A factor that alters the segregation ratio in
heterozygous Drosophila; SD+ cells are eliminated during spermiogenesis in SD+/SD males.

Segregation load: Genetic load caused when a population is segregating less fit homozygous
because of heterozygote advantage.
Segregation rule: According to Mendel’s first principle, it describes how genes pass from one
generation to the next.
Segregation: A principle discovered by Mendel, which states that heterozygotes produce equal
numbers of gametes having the two different alleles; in other words separation of the members of a
pair of alleles into different gametes in meiosis.

Selected marker: A genetic mutation that allows growth in selective medium.

Selection coefficient: The amount of forces by which relative fitness is reduced or increased. It is a
number that measures the fitness of a genotype relative to a standard.

Selection differential: In plant and animal breeding, the difference between the mean of the
individuals selected to be parents and the mean of the overall population.

114
Selection limit: The condition in which a population no longer responds to artificial selection for a
trait.

Selection pressure: Effectiveness of differential survival and reproduction in changing the

frequency of alleles in a population.

Selection response: In plant and animal breeding, the difference between the mean of the
individuals selected to be parents and the mean of their offspring.

Selection: A genetic sorting procedure that eliminates unwanted organisms, in plant and animal
breeding the choosing of organisms with certain phenotypes to be parents of the next generation
usually by preventing their growth or by killing them. In statistics, discrimination in sampling
leading to bias opposed to randomness.

Selection-mutation equilibrium: An equilibrium allelic frequency resulting from the balance

between selection against an allele and mutation re-creating this allele.
Selective disadvantage: The reduction in relative fitness of genotype A2A2 as compared with that of
A1A1 also known as the selection coefficient, symbolized by s.

Selective medium: A culture medium enriched with a particular substance to allow the growth of
particular strains or genotypes of organism.
Selectively neutral mutation: A mutation that has no (or negligible) effects on fitness.

Selector gene (a homeotic gene): A gene that influences the development of specific body segments
in Drosophila.

Self fertility: Capability of producing seed upon self-fertilization.

Selfed: Self fertilization.
Self-fertilization: Fertilization of eggs with sperm or pollen from the same individual sometimes
called selfing. An analogous process may occur in some animals, such as nematodes and molluscs.

Self-incompatibility: Lack of seed set on self-pollination.

Selfish DNA: DNA sequences that do not contribute to the fitness of an organism but are maintained
in the genome through their ability to replicate and transpose.

Self-Pollination: Autogamy.
Semiconservative replication: DNA replication in which the two strands of the parental duplex
separate completely and pair with new progeny strands. One parental strand is therefore conserved in
each progeny duplex. The usual mode by which DNA replicates for the synthesis of a new
complementary strand, where the daughter molecules are composed of one old (parental) and one
newly synthesized strand.

115
Semidiscontinuous replication: A mechanism of DNA replication in which one strand is made
continuously and the other is made discontinuously.

Semisterility: A condition of only partial fertility in which a significant proportion of the

gametophytes produced by a plant (e.g., maize) or of the zygotes produced by an animal are inviable
as in the case of a translocation heterozygote; usually associated with translocations.

Sense strand: Coding strand.

Sensors:In medicine and biotechnology, sensors are tools that detect specific biological, chemical, or
physical processes and then transmit or report this data. Some sensors work outside the body while
others are designed to be implanted within the body. Sensors help health care providers and patients
monitor health conditions. Sensors are also used to monitor the safety of medicines, foods and other
environmental substances we may encounter.
Separin: An enzyme that breaks down cohesin and allows sister chromatids to separate at the start of
anaphase of mitosis.
Sequence (IVS): Intron.

Sequence tagged site (STS): A short stretch of DNA that can be identified by using PCR with
defined primers to amplify it.

Sequence tagged sites (STSs): DNA lengths of 100-500 base pairs that are unique in the genome.
They are created by polymerase chain reaction amplification of primers that are then tested to be sure
the sequence is unique.
Sequence-ta-88ed site (STS): A DNA sequence present once per haploid genome that can be
amplified by the use of suitable oligonucleones primers in the polymerase chain reaction in order to
identify clones that contain the sequence.
Sequencing: Determining the amino acid sequence of a protein, or the base sequence of a DNA or
RNA.

Serology: The study of interactions between antigens and antibodies.

Sex chromosome: A heteromorphic chromosome whose distribution in a zygote involved in

determining the sex of an organism such as the human X or Y that has a role in the determination of
sex.

Sex conditioned traits: Traits that appear more often in one sex than in another.
Sex determining region Y (SRY): The sex determining factor, in human beings, located on the Y
chromosomes (SRY in mice).

116
Sex factor: A bacterial episome (e.g., the F plasmid in E. coli) that enables the cell to be a donor of
genetic material. The sex factor may be propagated in the cytoplasm, or it may be integrated into the
bacterial chromosome.

Sex lethal: A gene in Drosophila, located on the X chromosome, which is a sex switch, directing
development toward femaleness when in the on state. It is regulated by numerator and denominator
elements that act to influence the genic balance ratio (X/A).
Sex linkage: Association or linkage of a hereditary trait with sex; the gene is in a sex chromosome,
usually the X; often used synonymously with X-linkage.

Sex mosaic: Gynandromorph.

Sex switch: A gene in mammals, normally found on the Y chromosomes that directs the
indeterminate gonads towards development as testes.
Sexduction (F-duction): The incorporation of bacterial genes into F factors and their subsequent
transfer during conjugation.

Sex-influenced dominance: A dominant expression that depends on the sex of the individual (e.g.,
horns in sheep are dominant in males and recessive in females).

Sex-influenced: Traits that are expressed differently in the two sexes.

Sex-limited: Traits that are expressed only in one sex and they may be controlled by sex linked or
autosomal loci. Examples, milk production in mammals; egg production in chickens; horns in
Rambouillet sheep.

Sex-linked: Alleles that are on the sex chromosomes (usually the X chromosome in XY species);
also refers to the loci themselves.
Sex-ratio phenotype: A trait in Drosophila whereby females produce mostly, if not only daughters.
Sexual reproduction: Reproduction involving the formation of mature germ cells (i.e. eggs and
sperm).

Sexual selection: The forces, determined by mate choice, that act to cause one genotype to mate
frequently than another genotype.
Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence: A G-rich sequence (consensus = AGGAGGU) that is
complementary to a sequence at the 3’-end of E. Coli 16S rRNA. Base pairing between these two
sequences helps the ribosome bind an mRNA.

Shine-Dalgarno hypothesis: A proposal that prokaryotic messenger RNA is aligned at the ribosome
by complementary between the messenger RNA upstream from the initiation codon and the 3’ end of
the 168 ribosomal RNA.

117
Short interspersed elements (SINFs): Sequences of DNA intersperses in eukaryotic chromosomes
in many copies. Allow a three hundred base pair sequence is found about half million times in human
DNA.
Short-Term inbred: A line derived by one or a few generations of inbreeding. Such a line is not
homozygous or even nearly homozygous.
Shotgum cloning: The random cloning of pieces of the DNA of an organism without regard the
genes or sequences present in the cloned DNA.
Shunting: A process in which the first initiation codon on a messenger RNA is by passed for an
initiation codon further down the messenger. This process is probably guided by secondary structure
in the messenger.
Shuttle vector: A plasmid (cloning vector) capable of replicating in two different organisms,
allowing the recombinant DNA to shuttle back and forth between hosts such as yeast and E. coli.

Sibling (Sib): A brother or sister each has the same parents.

Sib-mating: Matings involving two individuals of the same parentage; brother-sister matings.

Sibship: A group of brothers and sisters.

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT): A nuclear medicine imaging

technique using gamma rays. SPECT imaging instruments provide 3 dimensional images of
thedistribution of radioactive tracer molecules that have been introduced into the patient’s body. The
3D images are computer generated from a large number of images of the body recorded at different
angles by cameras that rotate around the patient.
Sociobiology: The study of the evolution of social behaviour in animals.
Sigma (σ): The prokaryotic RNA polymerase subunit that confers specificity of transcription-that is,
ability to recognize specific promoters.

Sigma factor: The protein that gives promoter recognition specificity to the RNA polymerase core
enzyme of bacteria.
Signal hypothesis (Signal peptide): The major mechanism whereby proteins that must insert into or
across membrane are synthesized by a membrane bound ribosome in the endoplasmic reticulum.
Polypeptides with a signal peptide are destined for packaging in the Golgi apparatus and are usually
exported from the cell.
Signal recognition particle: Signal hypothesis.
Signal transduction pathway: A pathway in which the action of kinase enzymes that free
transcription factors, or some other action, translates an environmental signal into some from of gene
action.
Significance test: Statistical test designed to distinguish differences due to sampling error from
differences due to discrepancy between observation and hypothesis.
118
Significant: Statistically significant.

Sickle-cell disease (Sickle-cell anaemia): A genetic disease in which abnormal β-globin is

produced. Because of a single amino acid change, this blood protein tends to aggregate under low
oxygen conditions, distorting red blood cells into a sickle shape.

Silencer: A DNA sequence (element) that helps to reduce or shut off the expression of a nearby gene
(in eukaryotic).

Silent mutations: A mutation that has no phenotypic effect, even in a haploid organism or in
homozygous condition.

Simple tandem repeat polymorphism (STRP): A DNA polymorphism in a population in which the
alleles differ in the number of copies of a short tandemly repeated nucleotide sequence.

Single cross: A cross between two genotypes, usually two inbred lines, in plant breeding.
Single strand binding proteins: Proteins that attach to single stranded DNA usually near the
replicating Y-junction to stabilize the single strands.
Single-active-X principle: In mammals the genetic inactivation of all X chromosomes but one in
each cell lineage except in the very early embryo.

Single-copy DNA: Sequences that are present once, or only a few times, in a haploid genome.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): Differences between individuals involving single base

pairs that relocated about every 1000 bases along the human genome. SNPs are useful for mapping
disease genes. A site in the DNA occupied by a different nucleotide pair among a significant fraction
of the individuals in a population.

Single-stranded DNA: A DNA molecule that consists of a single polynucleotide chain.

Sister chromatids: Chromatids produced by replication of a single chromosome.

Site specific recombination: A crossover event, such as the integration of phage λ, requires
homology of only a very short region and uses an enzyme specific for that recombination.
Site-directed mutagenesis: A method for introducing specific, predetermined alterations into a
cloned gene.

Site-specific recombination: Recombination that always occurs in the same place and depends on
limited sequence similarity between the recombining DNAs.

Small nuclear ribonuleoproteins (snRNPs): Components of the splice some, the intron removing
apparatus in eukaryotic nuclei.
119
Small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs): A classes of nuclear RNAs, a few hundred nucleotides in length.
These RNAs, together with tightly associated proteins, make up small nuclear ribonucleoproteins.
that participate in splicing, polyadenylation, and 3'-end maturation of transcripts.

Small nucleolar ribonuleoproteins particles (snoRNPs): Particles composed of RNA and protein
found in the nucleolus that modify ribosomal RNAs, particularly by converting some uridines to
pseudouridine and methylating some ribosome sugars.
Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs): RNAs found in small nucleolar ribonuleoprotein particles
(snoRNAs) that take part in modifying ribosomal RNA in the maintenance.
Small ribonucleoprotein particles: Small nuclear particles that contain short RNA molecules and
several proteins. They are involved in intron excision and splicing and in other aspects of RNA
processing.

SMC proteins: For structural maintenance of chromosomes proteins that aid meiotic segregation
sisterchromatic adhesion dosage compensation recombination and other chromosal activities.
snRNP: Any of several classes of small ribonucleoprotein panicles involved in RNA splicing.

Solenoid: The 25nm diameter hollow tube formed by the coiling of a string of nucleosomes (Greek:
solenorides, pipe-shaped); represents the second order of chromatin folding in eukaryotes.

Somatic Backcrossing: Production of a somatic hybrid by fusing protoplasts of a somatic hybrid

with the protoplasts of one of the species used to produce this somatic hybrid.
Somatic cell (Nonsex cells): Any cell of a multicellular organism other than gametes and the germ
cells from which gametes develop.

Somatic cell genetics: Genetic manipulations involving fusing somatic cells instead of mating
organisms.

Somatic cell hybridization: Fusion of cells from two different species; used to determine
chromosomal location of genes.

Somatic doubling: A distruption of the mitotic process that produces a cell with twice the normal
chromosome number.
Somatic hypermutaion: The occuranece of a high level of mutation in the variable regions of
immunoglobulin genes.
Somatic mutation: A mutation arising in a somatic cell, so it cannot be passed on to progeny.

Somatic SS rRNA genes: The 5S rRNA genes (haploid number about 400 in Xenopus laevis) that
are expressed in both somatic cells and oocytes.

120
Somatoplasmic sterility: Collapse of zygotes during embryonic stages due to disturbances in
embryo-endosperm relationships.
SOS box: The region of the promotes of various genes that the LexA repressor recognizes. Release
of repression results in the induction of the SOS response.
SOS response: The activation of a group of genes, including rec4, that helps E. coli cells to respond
to environmental insults such chemical mutagens or radiation.

Southern blot: A method first devised by E. M. Southern, used to transfer of DNA fragments from
an electrophoretic gel to a cellulose or nylon membrane by capillary action for the purpose of DNA–
DNA or RNA–RNA hybridization during recombinant DNA work.

Spacer DNA: DNA sequences found between, and sometimes within, repeated genes such as rRNA
genes.

Specialized transduction (transducing phage): Use of λ or a similar phage to carry bacterial genes
from one cell to another. Form of transduction based on faulty looping out by a temperature phage.
Only neighbouring loci to the attachment site can be transduced. See generalized transduction.

Speciation: A process whereby over time, one species evolves into a different species (anagenesis)
or one species diverges to become two or more species (cladogenesis).
Species: A group of interbreeding, natural populations that capable of interbreeding to produce
fertile offspring that are reproductively isolated from other such groups.
Specific transcription factors: Proteins needed for activation of transcription at specific eykaryotic
promoters; also, negative factors that can inhibit transcription at a specific eukaryotic promoter.

Spectroscopy: The branch of science concerned with the investigation and measurement of spectra
produced when matter interacts with or emits electromagnetic radiation.
Spermatogenesis: The process by which formation of mature sperm from spermatids.

Sperm cells (spermatozoon/ spermatozoa): A mature male germ cell or the gametes of males.
Spermatids: The four cells formed in spermatogenesis by the meiotic divisions. Spermatids become
mature into sperm.

Spermatocyte: Sperm mother cell that undergoes two meiotic divisions (spermatogenesis) to the
primary spermatocyte before completion of the first meiotic division; the secondary spermatocyte
after completion of the first meiotic division.

Spermatogenesis: The process of sperm production.

Spermatogonium (Spermatogonia): Primordial male germ cell that may divide by mitosis to
produce more spermatogonia. A spermatogonium may enter a growth phase and give rise to a
primary spermatocyte.
121
Spheroplast: A plant or bacterial cell from which the wall has been removed.

Spiceosome: Protein RNA complex that removes introns in eukaryotic nuclear RNAs; the large
RNA-protein body upon which splicing of nuclear mRNA precursors occurs.
Spindle pole body: Spindle microtubule organizing center found in fungi.
Spindle: A structure composed of fibrous proteins (microtubule apparatus) controls chromosomal
movement during mitosis and meiosis.
Spiral cleavage: The cleavage process in mollusks and some other invertebrates whereby the
spindles is tipped at mitosis in relation to the original egg axis.
Splice acceptor: The 5' end of an exon splice donor the 3' end of an exon.

Splicing: The process of linking together (or joins) two RNA exons and eliminates the intervening
intron sequences.

Spontaneous mutation: A mutation that happens in the absence of any known mutagenic agent.

Spore: A specialized haploid cell formed sexually by plants or fungi, or asexually by fungi. The
latter can either serve as a gamete, or germinate to produce a new haploid cell.

Sporophyte: The stage of a plant life cycle that produces spores by meiosis and alternates with the
gametophyte stage.
Src: The oncogene of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), which encodes a tyrosine protein kinase.

SSB (Single-strand-binding): Protein, used during DNA replication. Binds to single-stranded DNA
and keeps it from base-pairing with a complementary strand.

Stabilizing selection: A type of selection that removes individuals from both ends of a phenotype
distribution thus maintaining the same distributional mean.
Standard deviation: The square root of the variance that use to measure of variability in a set of
data.

Standard error of the mean: The standard deviation divided by the square root of the sample size.
It is the standard deviation of a sample of means.
Standard error: A measure of variation among a population of means.

Start codon: An mRNA codon usually AUG at which polypeptide synthesis begins.

Station trial (Preliminary yield trial): Trial conducted by a breeder to assess the performance of
strains evolved by him as compared to a standard check. Usually at one location
Statistic: A value based on a sample or samples of a population from which estimates of a
population value or parameter may be obtained.

Statistically significant: The result of an experiment that has only a small probability of happening
by chance on the assumption that some hypothesis is true. Conventionally if results as bad or worse
would be expected less than 5 percent of the time the result is said to be statistically significant; if
less than 1 percent of the time the result is called statistically highly significant; both outcomes cast
the hypothesis into serious doubt.

Statistics: Measurements of attributes of a sample from a population denoted by Roman letters.

Stem cell: A mitotically active somatic cell from which other cells arise by differentiation.

122
Stem loop structure: A lollipop-shaped structure formed when a single stranded nucleic acid
molecule loops back on itself to form a complementary double helix (stem) topped by a loop.
Stepladder gel: A DNA sequencing gel. The numerous bands in each lane give the appearance of a
stepladder.
Sterility: Inability to produce offspring.

Sticky end: A single-stranded end of a DNA fragment produced by certain restriction enzymes
capable of reannealing with a complementary sequence in another such strand.

Stochastic: A process with an indeterminate or random element as opposed to a deterministic

process with no random element.
Stock Seed: The seed produced by a breeder of a strain, which has been identified but has not yet
been released as a variety. It will be known as breeder seed once the strain is released and notified.
Stop codon: One of three mRNA codons (UAG, UAA, and UGA) at which polypeptide synthesis
stops.

Strain building: Improvement of cross-fertilizing plants by any one of a number of methods of

selections.
Strain: A group of similar individuals within a variety.
Streptomycin: An antibiotic that kills bacteria by causing their ribosomes to misread mRNAs.

Stringency (of hybridization): The combination of factors (temperature, salt, and organic solvent
concentration) that influence the ability of two polynucleotide strand to hybridize.

Stringent factor: A protein that catalyzes the formation of an unusual nucleotide (guanosine tetra
phosphate) during the stringent response under amino acid starvation.
Stringent response: A translational control mechanism in prokaryotes that represses transfer RNA
and ribosomal RNA synthesis during amino acid starvation.
STRP: Simple tandem repeat polymorphism.

Structural alleles: Alleles whose alteration includes some of the same base pairs.
Structural Biology: The study of the structure of large biomolecules like proteins and nucleic acids,
how the structure relates to the function of the molecule, and how alterations in structure affect
function. Various methods such as crystallography are used to gain information about the structure of
a molecule. This information is often analyzed with bioinformatics techniques to obtain or solve the
structure of the molecule.

Structural gene: A gene that specifies the synthesis (or that code for) of a polypeptide (proteins).

Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM): A form of super high resolution microscopy designed
to capture extremely clear images of cells and molecules, even when they are moving quickly. The
sophisticated technique uses a number of filters and other light processors to rapidly scan images,
combine multiple images, and eliminate out of focus light in order to obtain super-resolution images
of cells and subcellular structures in motion.
Submetacentric chromosome: A chromosome whose centromere lies between its middle and its
end but closer to the middle.

Subpopulatlon: Any of the breeding groups within a larger population between which migration is
restricted.
123
Substandard Seed: Seed having the quality parameter, particularly, germination, below the standard
prescribed for certified seed of the concerned species.
Substitution line: A line in which a pair of chromosomes has been replaced by a pair from another
variety of the same species. It is used in aneuploid analysis.
Substrate molecule: A substance acted on by an enzyme.

Subtelocentric chromosome: A chromosome whose centromeres lie between its middle and its end
but closer to the end.
Sum rule: A rule stating that the probability of two (or more) mutually exclusive events occurring is
the sum of their individual probabilities of the individual events.

Supercoil (Superhelix): A DNA molecule that has been twisted.

Supercoiling: Negative or positive coiling of double stranded DNA that differs from the relaxed
state.
Supergenes: Several loci, which usually control related aspects of the phenotype in close physical
association.
Superhelix: A form of circular double-stranded DNA in which the double helix coils around itself
like a twisted rubber band.

Suppression: Compensation by one mutation for the effects of another.

Suppressor gene: A gene that when mutated apparently restores the wild-type phenotype to a
mutant of another locus.
Suppressor mutation: A mutation that partially or completely cancels the phenotypic effect of
another mutation; a mutation that reverses the effects of a mutation in the same or another gene.

Surveillance mechanism: it is used to describe mechanisms that oversee checkpoints in the cell
cycle; points in which the process can be halted certain conditions are not met.
Survival of the fittest: In evolutionary theory, survival of only those organisms best able to obtain
and utilize resources (the fittest). This phenomenon is the cornerstone of Darwin’s theory of
evolution.
SV40: Simian virus 40; a DNA tumor virus with a small circular genome, capable of causing tumors
in certain rodents.

Svedberg unit: A unit of sedimentation during centrifugation. Abbreviation is S as in 50s.

Swivelase: DNA gyrase.
Sympatric speciation: Speciation in which reproductive isolating mechanisms evolve within the
range and habitat of the parent species. This type of speciation may be common in parasites.
Syn0: The parental lines of a synthetic variety.
Syn1: The population derived by intermating among the Syn0 lines in all possible combinations.
Syn2, Syn3, -------: Generations derived through random mating from Syn1, Syn2, ------ generations
respectively.
Synapsis: The pairing of homologous chromosomes in the zygotene substage of the first meiotic
prophase.

Synaptinemal complex: A ribbon like proteinacous complex formed between synapsed homologs
and binding the chromatids along their length at the end of the first meiotic prophase (the zygotene
stage) and facilitating chromatid exchange and then break up.

124
Synchrotron: A large circular facility/device that accelerates sub-atomic particles in a magnetic field
in a circular path that generates electromagnetic radiation with a defined exit (beam line). One type
of synchrotron (a synchrotron light source) converts a high-energy beam of electrons into high-

energy x-rays that can be used in a number of applications including biomedical imaging .

Syncitium: A cell that has may nuclei not separated by cell membranes.
Syncytial blastoderm: Stage in early Drosophila’s development formed by successive nuclear
divisions without division of the cytoplasm.

Syndrome: A group of symptoms that occur together and represent a particular disease.

Synexpression group: A group of eukaryotic genes that are involved in the same function or
pathway and are induced together.
Synkaryon: A nucleus formed by the fusion of nuclei from two different somatic cells during
somatic-cell hybridization.

Synteny test: A test determines whether two loci belong to the same linkage group by observing
concordance in hybrid cell lines.
Synteny: The occurrence of two loci on the same chromosome, without regard to the distance
between them.

Synthetic medium: A chemically defined substrate that microorganisms are grown upon.
Synthetic variety: In cross-pollinated species; a variety obtained by mating in all possible
combinations a number of lines that combine well with each other, with subsequent maintenance of
the variety by open pollination; Syn1, or, more generally, Syn2 and the later generations.

125
T
T-antigen: The major product of the early region of the DNA tumor virus SV40. A DNA binding
protein; has the ability to transform cells and thereby cause tumors.

T-DNA: Transposable element found in Agrobacterium tumefacins which produces crown gall
tumors in a wide variety of dicotyledonous plants.

TACTAAC box: A consensus sequence surrounding the lariat branch point of eukaryotic messenger
RNA introns.
Tandem duplication: A pair of identical or closely related DNA sequences that are adjacent and in
the same orientation.

Target site duplication: A sequence of DNA that is duplicated when a transposable element inserts,
usually found at each end of the insertion.

TATA binding protein (TBP): A protein that binds to the TATA motif in the promoter region of a
gene.

TATA box: The base sequence 5'-TATA-3' (TATAAM) in the DNA of a promoter; found about 25
base pairs upstream from the start of transcription in most eukaryotic promoters recognized by RNA
polymerase II, analogous to the Pribnow box in prokaryotes.

TATA-binding protein: A protein part of TFHD that binds the TATA consensus sequence in
eukaryotic promoters.
Tautomeric shift: A reversible shifts of proton positions in a molecule. The bases in nucleic acids
shift between the keto and enol forms or between the amino and imino forms.
Tautomerization: The shifts of a base from one tautomeric form to the other; also called tautomeric
shift.

Tautomers: Two forms of the same molecule that differs only in the location of a proton and a
double bond. For example, two tautomers of adenine are possible, an amine form and an imine form.

TBP-associated factors (TAFs): Proteins that bind with the TATA binding protein to form TFHD.
They aid in the selectively of RFHD.
T-cell receptors: Surface proteins of T cells that allow the T-cells to recognize host cells that have
been infected.
T-DNA: The tumor-inducing part of the Ti plasmid.

Telehealth:The use of communications technologies to provide and support health care at a distance.

126
Telocentric chromosome: A chromosome whose centromere lies very near at one of its ends.
Telomerase: An enzyme that adds specific nucleotides to the tips of the chromosomes to form the
telomeres of eukaryotic chromosomes.

Telomere: A structure at the end (tip) of a eukaryotic chromosome containing a DNA sequence
required for stability of the chromosome end.

Telophase: The last (final) stage in each mitotic or meiotic nuclear division in which the
chromosomes are bring together at the poles of the division spindle and the nuclear membrane forms,
encloses the chromosomes in the daughter cells and cytokinesis usually occurs.

Telson: The posterior end of the arthropod embryo, where the end of the alimentary canal is located.
Temperate phage (Virulent phage): A phage (virus) that invades but may not destroy (lyse) the host
(bacterial cell)

Temperature-sensitive mutation: An organism with an allele that is normal at a permissive

temperature but causes a phenotypic change (mutant) only at certain temperatures.

Template: A strand of nucleic acid or a polynucleotide (RNA or DNA) whose base sequence is
copied in a polymerization reaction to produce either a complementary DNA or an RNA strand. For
example, a DNA strand serves as the template for ordinary transcription; also called the anticoding
strand, or antisense strand.

Template strand: Anticoding strand.

Terminal redundancy: In bacteriophage T4 a short duplication found at opposite ends of the linear
molecule; the duplicated region differs from one phage to the next.

Terminal transferase: An enzyme that adds deoxyribonucleotides, one at a time, to the 3'-end of a
DNA.

Terminalization: Repelling movement of the centromeres of bivalents in the diplotene stages of the
meiotic prophase that tends to move the visible chiasmata toward the ends of the bivalents.

Terminator sequence: A sequence in DNA that signals the termination of transcription to RNA
polymerase.
Terminator stem: A configuration of the leader transcript that signals transcriptional termination in
attenuator controlled amino acid operons.
Terminator: Transcription terminator.

Tertiary structure: The further folding of a protein, bringing α helices and β sheets into three
dimensional arrangements. It is the overall three-dimensional shape of a polypeptide or RNA.

127
Tesla: An international unit to describe the strength of a magnetic field.
Test cross: A Backcross between an F1 individual (an individual of unknown genotype) and the
recessive parent of the F1 (the tester); also used as a test for linkage.
Testing-hypotheses: The determination of whether to reject a proposed hypothesis based on the
likelihood of the experimental results or to accept.
Tests-detenninlng factor (TDF): Genetic element on the mammalian Y chromosome that
determines maleness.

Tetra nucleotide hypothesis: The hypothesis based on incorrect information that DNA could not be
the genetic material because its structure was too simple that is that repeating subunits contain one
copy each of the four DNA nucleotides.
Tetra type: An ascus containing spores of four different genotypes one each of the four genotypes
possible with two alleles of each of two genes.

Tetrad analysis: The use of the four meiotic products from a single meiosis (a tetrad) to determine
the behavior of genes in meiosis.

Tetrad: The four chromatids that make up a pair of homologous chromosomes in meiotic prophase I
and metaphase I; also, the four haploid products of a single meiosis. The term is also used to identify
the four cells arising from the second meiotic division in plants (pollentetrads) or fungi (ascospores).

Tetramer (protein): A complex of four polypeptides.

Tetraploid: A cell or an organism with four basic (x) sets of chromosomes or genomes. In an
autotetraploid, the chromosome sets are homologous; in an allotetraploid, the chromosome sets
consist of a complete diploid complement from each of two distinct ancestral species.

Tetrasomic (tetrasome): Pertaining to a nucleus or an organism with four members of one of its
chromosomes whereas the remainder of its chromosome complement is diploid.

Tetratype (TT): A spore arrangement in Ascomycete fungi that contains four different types; for
example, AB, aB, Ab, and ab.
TFIIIA and C: Transcription factors that help activate the vertebrate 5S rRNA genes by facilitating
binding of TFIIIB.

TFIIIB: The transcription initiation factor that activates genes transcribed by RNA polymerase III.

Thalassemia: A genetic disease marked by failure to produce a functional mRNA for one of the two
major adult hemoglobin proteins, α-globin or β-globin.

128
Theranostics: The relatively experimental science of combining therapy and diagnosis into a single
procedure or molecule. Towards this end, bioengineers are building multi-functional nanoparticles
that can be introduced into a patient, find the site of disease, diagnose the condition, and deliver the
appropriate, personalized therapy.

Theta structure: An intermediate structure formed during the replication of a circular DNA
moleculic.
Three-point cross (eukaryotic): A testcross in which one parent is heterozygous for three genes.

Three-point cross (prokaryotic): A cross in which the two parental genotypes differ at three genes.

Three-point cross: A cross involving three loci or genes are segregating; used to obtain
unambiguous evidence of gene order.
Threshold trait: A trait with a continuously distributed liability or risk; organisms with a liability
greater than a critical value (the threshold) exhibit the phenotype of interest such as a disorder.

Thymidine: A nucleoside containing the base thymine.

Thymine (T): A nitrogenous pyrimidine bases that pairs with adenine in DNA and found in DNA.
The other (three organic bases-adenine, cytosine, and guanine-are found in both RNA and DNA, but
in RNA, thymine is replaced by uracil.

Thymine dimer: Two adjacent thymines in one DNA strand linked covalently, interrupting their
base pairing with adenines in the opposite strand. This is the main genetic damage caused by
ultraviolet light.

Ti plasmid: The tumor-inducing plasmid from Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Used as a vector to carry
foreign genes into plant cells.

Time of entry: In an Hfr x F- bacterial mating, the earliest time that a particular gene in the Hfr
parent is transferred to the F- recipient.

Tissue culture: Cultivation of plant cells, tissues or organs in vitro on artificial media.

Tissue Engineering: An interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field that aims at the development of
biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function
T-loop: A loop that forms at the end of mammalian telomeres by the interdigitation of the 3’ free end
into the DNA double helix.
Top cross: Inbred-variety cross.
Topoisomerase: An enzyme that changes (or create) a DNA's superhelical form by creating
transitory breaks in one helical backbone.

129
Topoisomers: Forms of DNA with the same sequence but differing in their linkage number
(coiling).
Total variance: Summation of all, nurses of genetic and environ- mental variation.

Totipotent cell (or nucleus): An undifferentiated cell (or nucleus) such as a blastomere that when
isolated or suitably transplanted can develop into a complete embryo (i.e.to give rise to a complete
organism).

Totipotent: The state of a cell that can give rise to any and all adult cell types; as compared with a
differentiated cell whose fate is determined.
T-peron: The operon that encodes the enzymes needed to make the amino acid tryptophan.

Trailer: The length of messenger RNA from the nonsense codon to the 3’ end or in polycistronic
messenger RNAs from a nonsense codon to the next genes leader.
Trait: Any aspect of the appearance, behavior development biochemistry, or other feature of an
organism.

Trans configuration: The arrangement in linked inheritance in, which a genotype heterozygous for
two mutant sites has received one of the mutant sites from each parent-that is a1+ /+a2.

Trans-gene: A foreign gene transplanted into an organism, making the recipient a transgenic
organism.

Trans-heterozygote:Trans-configuration.

Trans: Meaning across and referring usually to the geometric configuration of mutant alleles across
from each other on a homologous pair of chromosomes.
Trans-Acting: A term describing of a genetic substances, such as a repressor gene or transcription
factor gene that can be on a separate chromosome and still influence another gene.

Transcript: An RNA copy of a gene; an RNA strand that is produced from, and is complementary in
base sequence to, a DNA template strand.

Transcription complex: An aggregate of RNA polymerase (consisting of its own subunits) along
with other polypeptide subunits that makes transcription possible.

Transcription factors: Eukaryotic proteins that stimulates RNA polymerase in recognizing

promoters or enhancer element.
Transcription terminator: A specific DNA sequence that signals transcription to terminate.

Transcription: The process whereby RNA is synthesized from a DNA template.

Transcriptional activator protein: Positive control element that stimulates transcription by binding
with particular sites in DNA.

Transdetermination: The alteration of the developmental fate of a group of cells, causing them to
differentiate in an anomalous way. For example, in Drosophila, an experimentally manipulated wing
imaginal disc may differentiate into eye structures.

Transducing particle: A defective phage (a virus) carrying part of the hosts genome from one cell
to another.
Transductants: Cells that have received genetic information from a transducing virus.

130
Transduction: The carrying of genetic information (genes) from one bacterium to another by a
phage (or a viral particle).

Transfection: The uptake of DNA by a eukaryotic cell; the introduction of foreign DNA into
eukaryotic cells.

Transfer operon (tra): Sequence of loci that impart the male (F-pili-producing) phenotype on a
bacterium. The male cell can transfer the F plasmid to an F cell.
Transfer RNA (tRNA): A small RNA molecule that transports amino acids to the ribosomes for
polymerization, where the amino acids are assembled into proteins; it has a the-base sequence, called
the anticodon, complementary to a specific codon in mRNA and a site to which a specific amino acid
is bound.

Transferrin: Blood serum protein, beta globulin.

Transformation (bacteria): Genetic alteration of bacteria brought about by the incorporation of

foreign DNA in the bacterial cells.

Transformation (eukaryotic cells): The conversion of eukaryotic cells growing in culture to a state
of uncontrolled cell growth (similar to tumor cell growth).

Transformation (genetic): An alteration in a cell's genetic makeup caused by introducing

exogenous DNA.

Transformation (malignant): A process whereby a normal cell begins behaving like a tumor
(cancerous) cell.
Transformed cell: An immortal cell that displays many of the characteristics of a cancer cell, but
that mayor may not be tumorigenic.

Transgenic organism: An animal or plant into which a new gene or set of genes (novel DNA) has
been transferred; eukaryotic organisms that have taken up foreign DNA.

Transgressive segregation: Appearance in segregating generations of individuals falling outside the

parental range in respect to some character.
Transgressive variation: The appearance in the F2 (or a later) generation of individuals showing
more extreme development of a trait than either of the original parents.

Transition: A mutation caused by the substitution of one purine by another purine or one pyrimidine
by another pyrimidine in DNA or RNA.

Transition mutation: A mutation in which a purine-pyrimidine base pair replaces a base pair in the
same purine-pyrimidine relationship.
Translation: The process of protein (polypeptide) synthesis, where in the nucleotide sequence in
messenger RNA determines the primary structure of the protein; it occurs on ribosomes.

Translocase (EF-G): Elongation factor in prokaryotes necessary for proper translocation at the
ribosome during the translation process; replaced by eEF2 in eukaryotes.
Translocation (chromosomal): Movement of a chromosome segment from one chromosome to
another nonhomologous chromosome; also the movement of mRNA with respect to a ribosome
during protein synthesis.

131
Translocation channel (translocon): A protein lined pore or channel in a membrane through which
nascent proteins are transported during translation.
Transmembrane receptor: A receptor protein containing amino acid sequences that span the cell
membrane.

Transmission genetics: The study of the transmission of genes from one generation to the next.

Transposable element: A DNA element that capable of moving (trans-posing) from one location to
another in a genome.

Transposase: An enzyme that catalyzes the movement of a DNA sequence to a different site in a
DNA molecule.

Transposition: The movement of a transposable element.

Transposon tagging: The insertion of a transposable element into or nearby a gene, thereby marking
that gene with a known DNA sequence.

Transposons (transposable genetic element): DNA elements that can move (transpose themselves)
from one position in a DNA molecule to another- for example, for antibiotic resistance; also used
loosely as a synonym for transposable element or a jumping gene.
Transversion: A mutation resulting from the substitution of a purine for a pyrimidine or that of a
pyrimidine for a purine.

Transversion mutation: A mutation in which a pyrimidine replaces a purine, or vice versa (a purine
for a pyrimidine) in DNA or RNA.

Trihybrid: The offspring from homozygous parents differing in three pairs of genes (at three loci).

Trinucleotide repeat: A tandemly repeated sequence of three nucleotides; genetic instability in

trinucleotide repeats is the cause of a number of human hereditary diseases.

Triplet code: A code in which each codon consists of three bases.

Triploids A cell or organism with three whole sets of chromosomes.

Trisomy (Trisomic): Diploids having one extra chromosome, having 2n+1 chromosome.

Trisomy-X syndrome: The clinical features of the karyotype 147XXX.

Trivalent: Structure formed by three homologous chromosomes in meiosis I in a triploid or trisomic

chromosome when each homolog is paired along pan of its length with first one and then the other of
the homologs.

t-RNA (transfer RNA): Relatively small RNA molecules that bind amino acids at one end and
“read” mRNA codons at the other, thus serving as the “adapters” that translate the mRNA code into a
sequence of amino acid.

Trnafmet: The tRNA responsible for initiating protein synthesis.

trp-RNA-binding attenuation protein (TRAP): Protein that can bind to the attenuation region of
the messenger RNA of the tryptophan operon if Bacillilus subtilis causing a terminator stem to from
and halting further transcription.
True heritability: Heritability.

132
True-breeding: Refers to a strain breed or variety of organism that yields progeny like itself;
homozygous.

Truncation point: In artificial selection the value of the phenotype that determines which organisms
will be retained for breeding.
Tumor: Abnormal growth of tissue.
Tumor suppressor genes: Genes that normally prevent ultimated cellular growth. When both copies
of the gene are mutated, cellular transformation follows. Examples are the p53 gene and the genes
for retinoblastoma and Wilms tumor.
Tumorigenicity: The ability to cause tumors in whole animals.

Tumor-suppressor gene (anti-oncogene): A gene whose absence predisposes to malignancy; also

called an anti-oncogene.

Turner syndrome: The clinical features of human females with the karyotype 45.X.

Two point cross: A cross involving two loci.

Ty: A yeast transposon that transposes via a retrovirus-like mechanism.

Typanosomes: Protozoa that parasitize both mammals and tsetse flies; the latter spread the disease
by biting mammals.

Type I error: In statistics, the rejection of a true hypothesis.

Type II error: In statistics, the accepting of a false hypothesis.
Typological thinking: The concept that organism of a species conform to a specific norm. In this
view, variation is considered abnormal.
TΨC loop: The loop in a tRNA molecule, conventionally drawn on the right, which contains the
nearly invariant sequence TΨC, where Ψ is pseudouridine.

133
U
Ubiquitin: A peptide of twenty six amino acid residues that enzymes attach to proteins that the
proteasome will degrade.
Ultrasound: A form of acoustic energy, or sound, that has a frequency that is higher than the level of
human hearing. As a medical diagnostic technique, high frequency sound waves are used to provide
real-time medical imaging image inside the body without exposure to ionizing radiation. As a
therapeutic technique, high frequency sound waves interact with tissues to destroy diseased tissue
such as tumors, or to modify tissues, or target drugs to specific locations in the body.
Unassigned reading frame (URF): An open reading frames those codes for a polypeptide of
unknown identity.
Undermethylated region: A region of a gene or its flank that is relatively poor in, or devoid of,
methyl groups.
Unequal crossing over: Nonreciprocal crossing over caused by the mismatching of homologous
chromosomes, creating duplicated and deficient products-for example in a tandem duplication
between the upstream copy in one chromosome and the downstream copy in the homologous
chromosome.
Unidirectional DNA replication: Replication that occurs in one direction, with only one active
replicating fork.
Uninemic chromosome: A chromosome consisting of one DNA double helix.
Uniparental inheritance: A pattern of inheritance in which only one parent provides genes to the
progeny.
Unipartite structures: Single units.

Unique DNA: A length of DNA with no repetitive nucleotide sequences; single-copy DNA.
Univalent: An unpaired chromosome formed in meiosis at meiosis I.

Unmixed families: Groups of four codons sharing their first two bases and coding for the same
amino acid.
Unusual bases: Other bases, in addition to adenine, cytocine, guanine and uracil, found primary in
transfer RNAs.
Up mutation: A mutation, usually in a promoter, that results in more expression of a gene.

Upstream: A convention on DNA related to the position and direction of transcription by RNA
polymerase (5’-3’). Downstream (or 3’ to) is in the direction of transcription whereas upstream (5’
to) is in the direction from which the polymerase has come.
Upstream control element (UCE): An element of eukaryotic promoters recognized by RNA
polymerase I. Includes bases between positions approximately -100 to -150.

Uracil (U): A pyrimidine base (nitrogenous) found in RNA (that replaces thymine in RNA) but not
in DNA. In DNA, uracil is replaced by thymine.

Ultimate carcinogen: The most carcinogenic form to which a given substance can be metabolized.

Ultraviolet radiation: Relatively low energy radiation found in sunlight; causes thymine dimers in
DNA.

134
V
V (D) joining: The process of joining variable, diversity and joining gene segments (V-J, or D-J
joining) in the formation of a functioning immunoglobulin gene.
Variable antibody region: The portion of an immunoglobulin molecule that varies greatly in amino
acid sequence among antibodies in the same subclass.
Variable loop: The loop, or stem, in a tRNA molecule lying between the anticodon and TΨC loops.
Variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR): Loci that are hypervariable because of tandem
repeats. Presumably variability is generated by unequal crossing over.
Variable region: The region of an antibody that binds specifically to a foreign substance, or antigen.
As its name implies, it varies considerably from one kind of antibody to another.
Variale expressivity: Differences in the severity of expression of a particular genotype.
Variance: A measure of the dispersion of the mean value (of variation) in a population. It is the
square of the standard deviation; the mean of the squares of the deviations from the mean.
Variate: A single observation or measurement.
Variation: In biology, the occurrence of differences among individuals due to differences in their
genetic composition and/or the environment in which they were raised.
Variegation: Patchines a type of position affect that result when particular loci are contiguous with
heterochromatin.
Variety: In botany, a subdivision of a species; a group of individuals within a species which are
distinct in form or function from other similar arrays of individuals. In plant breeding, a strain
released for commercial cultivation by a variety release committee.
Vector: A DNA molecule or a piece of DNA (a plasmid or a viral chromosome or DNA), capable of
replication, into which a gene or DNA segment is inserted by recombinant DNA techniques (serves
as a carrier in gene cloning experiments); a cloning vehicle.
Vegetative cell: A cell that is reproducing by division, rather than sporulating or reproducing
sexually.
Vell lineage: The ancestor-descendant relationships of a group of cells in development.
Ventromere: The region of the chromosome that is associated with spindle fibers and that
participates in normal chromosome movement during mitosis and meiosis.

Viability: The capability to live and develop normally.

Viral oncogene: A class of genes found in certain viruses that pre dispose to cancer. Viral
oncogenes are the viral counterparts of cellular oncogenes.

Viriods: Bare RNA particles that are plant pathogens.

Virion: A virus particle.
Virulent phage: A phage (virus) that destroys the host (bacterial) cell; a phage that lyses its host.

Virusoid: A viroid-like RNA that depends on a virus for its replication.

Viscoelastometry: A method to study the physical properties of molecules in solution.

Visible mutations: Morphological mutations.

135
W
Wahlud effect: The effect of subdivision on a population, causing it to contain fewer heterozygous
than predicted despite the fact that all subdivisions are in Hardy-Weinberg proportions.
Watson-Crick base pairing: Base pairing in DNA or RNA in which a pairs with T (or U in RNA)
and G pairs with C.

Western blot: A technique for the transfer of proteins from an electrophoretic gel to a cellulose or
nylon membrane by means of an electric force.

Whole genome shotgun method: A method of sequencing entire genomes by breaking up the
genomes into small pieces, sequencing the pieces, and then using computers to establish order by
overlapping the sequences.
Wide cross: Cross between two species of the same genus or of different genera (Syn., distant
cross).
Wild type: The most common phenotype or genotype of a particular organism when it is first seen in
nature; also, a phenotype or genotype arbitrarily designated as the customary phenotype a standard
for comparison.

Wilm’s tumor: A childhood kidney cancer caused by the inactivation of an anti-organic.

Wobble hypothesis: Francis Crick's hypothesis that explain how one tRNA may recognize two
codons. The first two bases of the mRNA codon and anticodon pair properly, but the third base in the
anticodon has some play (or wobble) that permits nit to pair with more than one base.

Wobble position: The third base of a codon, where wobble base- pairing is permitted.

Wobble: The ability of the third base of a codon to shift slightly to form a non- Watson-Crick base
pair with the first base of an anticodon, thus allowing additional complementary base pairings.

World Collection: Gene Bank.

136
X
X chromosome: A chromosome associated with sex determination. In most animals that is present
in two copies in the homogametic sex (the female) and in one copy in the heterogametic sex (the
male).

X: Basic number of chromosomes in a polyploid series.

X1, X2, X3, ---: Symbols denoting first, second, third …. generation, respectively, from an irradiated
(with X-rays or some other mutagenic radiation) ancestral plant (X 0) obtained through selfing or
clonal multiplication.
Xenia: Hereditary influence from the pollen parent to the endosperm in the seed in certain plants.

Xeroderma pigmentosum: A disease in human beings characterized by extreme sensitivity to

sunlight. Even mild exposure leads to many skin cancers. It is caused by a defect in DNA repair.

X-inactivation center (XIC): Locus at which inactivation is initiated on the X chromosomes in

mammals.
X-linked: Sex-linked.
X-linked gene: A gene located in the X chromosome; X-linked inheritance is usually evident from
the production of nonidentical classes of progeny from reciprocal crosses.

X-ray crystallography: A technique, using X-rays, to determine the atomic structure of molecules
that have been crystallized.
X-rays: High energy radiation that ionizes cellular components. The ions then can cause
chromosome breaks.

Y
Y- chromosome: The partner of the X chromosome in the male of many animal species. The sex
chromosome presents only in the hetero-gametic sex; in mammals the male-determining sex
chromosome.

Yeast artificial chromosome (YAC): In yeast a cloning vector that can accept very large fragments
of DNA; a chromosome introduced into yeast derived from such a vector and containing DNA from
another organism. YACs are capable of including large pieces of foreign DNA during cloning.

Y-junction: The point of active DNA replication where the double helix opens up so that each strand
can serve as a template.
Y-linked: Inheritance pattern of loci located on the Y chromosome only. Also refers to the loci
themselves.

137
Z
Z-DNA: A left-handed helical form of double-stranded DNA whose backbone has a zigzag
appearance. It may be involved in regulating gene expression in eukaryotes.This form is stabilized by
stretches of alternating purines and pyrimidines.

ZFY gene: Originally believed to be the human male sex-switch gene, located on the short arm of
the Y-chromosome. ZFY stands for zinc finger on the Y chromosome.

Zinc finger: Configuration of a DNA binding protein that resembles a finger with a base usually
cysteins and histidines, binding a zinc ion. These fingers help the proteins bind DNA.

Zygote: The product of the fusion of a female gamete and a male gamete in sexual reproduction; a
fertilized egg. The term is also used in genetics to designate the individual developing from such a
cell.

Zygotene (Zygonema): The substage of meiotic phrophase I in which homologous chromosomes

synapse (synapsis occurs); after the leptotene stage and before the pachytene stage in the meiotic
prophase.

Zygotic gene: Any of a group of genes that control early development through their expression in
the zygote.

Zygotic induction: The beginning of vegetative growth when a prophage is passed into and F cell
during conjugation.
Zygotic selection: The factors acting to cause differential mortality of an organism at the stage
(other than gametes) in its life cycle.

138
 References
 Allard, R. W. 1960. Principles of Plant Breeding. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
New York.
 Alters, S. 1996. Biology, Understanding Life, 2nd edn. Mosby, St. Lois.
 Ayala, F. J., and J. A. Kiger, Jr. 1980. Modern Genetics. The Benjamin
Cummings Publishing Co., Inc., California.
 Basher, M. A. 2004. Instant of Basics of Environment, wide approach to
nature lover. Positron Publications, Dhaka.
 Bhamrah, H. S. 1995. Molecular Cell Biology. Anmol Publication Pvt. Ltd.,
New Delhi.

 Brenstein, R and S. Bernstein. 1982. Biology: The Study of Life. Harcourt

Brace Jovanovich, Inc., Philadelphia.
 Brewbaker, J. L. 1964. Agricultural Genetics. Prentice-Hall Foundations of
Modern Science, Englewood, Cliffs, New Jersey.
 Brewer, G. J., and C. F. Sing. 1983. Genetics. Addison-Wesley Publishing
Co., London.
 BCE.2006. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.
 BRRE (2005). Britannica Ready Reference Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.

 C.E. 1967. Chamber’s Encyclopaedia, new rev. edn. Vol. 16. Per Gramon
Press, London.
 Campbell, N. A. 1996. Biology, 4th edn. The Benjamin Cumin Publishing Co.,
Inc., Melono Park, Califonia.
 Case, J. F. 1979. Biology, 2nd edn. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New
York and Collier Macmillan Publishers, London.
 CEE. 2003. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edn. Columbia University Press.
 Cockrum, E. L. and W. J. McCauley1965. Zoology, Saunders Student edn.
W.B. Saunders Co., London.
 Curtis, H. 1980. Biology. Worth Publishers, Inc., New York.

 Dobzhanskey, T. 1955. Evolution, Genetics and Man. Wiley Eastern Pvt. Ltd,
New Delhi.
 Dobzhanskey, T. 1973. Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of
evolution. The Amer. Boil. Teac. 35(3): 125-129.

 Dobzhansky, T. 1937. Genetics and Origin of Species. Columbia University

 Freifelder, D. 1997. Molecular Biology, 2nd edn. Narosa Publishing House,
New Delhi.
 Gardner, E. J., M. J. Simons, and D. P. Snustad. 2001. Principles of Genetics,
8th edn. John & Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
 Gottfried, S. S. 1993. Biology Today. Mosby, St. Louis.
 Gupta, P. K. 1997. Cytology, Genetics and Evolution, 5th edn. Rastogi
Publications, Meerut, India.
 Gupta, P. K. 2003. Genetics, 3rd edn. Rastogi Publications, Meerut, India.

139
 Hartl, D. L., and E. W. Jones. 1998. Genetics, 4th edn. Jones and Bartlett
Publishers, Boston, London.
 Hickman, C. P. Jr., L.S. Robert, F.M. Hickman. 1984. Integrated Principles
of Zoology, 7th edn. Time Mirror, Mosby College Publishing, Saint Lois.
 Islam, A. S. 1982. Fundamentals of Genetics. Vikas Publishing Co., New
Delhi.
 Jordan, E. L., and Verma, P. S. 1990. Chordate Zoology and Animal
Physiology, 10th edn. S. Chand & Co., New Delhi.

 Keeton, W. T. 1980. Biological Science, 3rd edn. W.W. Norton and Co., New
York
 Khanna, S. S. 1989. Genetics and Evolution, 4th edn. Central Book Depot,
Allahabad, India.
 Kilgore, W. 2002. Challenging the Naturalistic theory of Evolution. Internet.
 Kimball, J. W. 1965. Biology, 1st edn. Addition- Wesley Publishing Co. Inc.,
London.
 Kimball, J. W. 1974. Biology, 3rd edn. Ameind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
York.
 Kumar, H. D. 1985. Cytology, Genetics and Evolution. Kalyani Publications,
New Delhi.
 Lewin, B. 1994. Genes V. Oxford University Press, New York.
 Mader, S. 2003. Biology 3rd edn. McGrow-Hill Higher Education, New
York.
 Mader, S. 1993. Biology, part - 3, Biology of Evolution and Diversity, 4th
edn. Wm. C. Brown Publishers, England.

 Mader, S. 1997, 2001. Inquiry into life. Wm. C. Brown Publishers, England.
 Mader, S. S. 200. Human Biology, 7th edn. McGrow-Hill Higher Education,
New York.

 Moment, G. B. 1958. General Zoology. Houghton Miffin Co., Boston.

 Novitski, E. 1977. Human Genetics. Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. New
York and Collier Macmillan Publishers, London.
 NSE. 1984. New Standard Encyclopedia. Standard Educational Publication,
New York 9: 643-644.
 Pai, A. C. 1986. Foundation of Genetics, int. edn. McGraw Hill Co., New
York.
 Purves, W. K. and G. H. Orians. 1987. The Science of Biology, 2nd edn.
Sinauer Associates Inc. Publishers, Snderland, Massachuetts.
 Rastogi, V. B. 1994. Organic Evolution. Kedernath Ramnath, India.
 Raven, P.H., Evert, R.F., and Curtis, H. 1980. Biology of Plants, 2nd edn.
Worth Publishers Inc., New York.
 Reddi, O. S. 1992. Understanding Genetics. Allied Publishers Limited, New
Delhi.

140
  Ritche, D. D. and R. G. Carola. 1983. Biology. Addison-Wiley Publishing
Co., Inc., Califonia.

 Russell, P. J. 1998. Genetics, 5th edn. The Benjamin-Cummins Publishing

Co., Inc., Menlopark, CA.
 Sambamurty, A. V. S. S. 1999. Genetics. Narosa Publishing House, New
Delhi, London.
 Singh, B. D. 2000. Plant Breeding, 6th edn. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi.

 Sinha, U. and S. Sinha. 1997. Cytogenetics, Plant Breeding and Evolution.

Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
 Sinnott, E. D., L. C. Dunn, and T. Dobzhanskey . 1998. Principles of
Genetics, 5th edn. Tata-McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi.

 Sinnott, W. E., and K. S. Wilson. 1963. Botany: Principle and Problems, 6th
edn. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.
 Skinner, B. F. 1981. Selection by consequence. Science 213: 501-504.

 Smith, R. L. 1990. Ecology and Field Biology, 4th edn. Harper Collins
Publishers, New York.
 Snustad, D. P., M.J. Simmons, and J. B. Jenkins . 1997. Principles of
Genetics. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York.

 Starr, C, and R. Taggart 1989. Biology, the Unity and Diversity of Life, 5th
edn. Wardsworth Publishing Co. Belmont, California.
 Wallace, R. A. 1990. Biology, the world of life, 5th edn. Harper Collins
Publishers Inc., New York.

 Ward, J. A., and H. W. Hetzel. 1980. Biology Today and Tomorrow. West
Publishing Co., New York

141

View publication stats