Biology Flashcard

Front

What is a prokaryote?

Back

A prokaryote is a single-celled organism that lacks a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles, such as bacteria.

Front

What is the primary function of proteins in biological systems?

Back

Proteins serve various functions including catalyzing biochemical reactions (enzymes), providing structure, and facilitating communication within and between cells.

Front

What is the role of tRNA in protein synthesis?

Back

tRNA (transfer RNA) transfers specific amino acids to the ribosome during protein synthesis, matching them to the corresponding codons on the mRNA.

Front

What are the main differences between DNA and RNA?

Back

DNA is double-stranded, contains deoxyribose sugar, and uses thymine (T) as a base. RNA is single-stranded, contains ribose sugar, and uses uracil (U) instead of thymine.

Front

What is the structure of a protein?

Back

Proteins are made up of amino acids linked by peptide bonds, and they have four levels of structure: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary.

Front

What is the function of ribosomes in cells?

Back

Ribosomes are the cellular machinery that synthesizes proteins by translating mRNA into amino acid sequences.

Front

What are the three types of RNA involved in protein synthesis?

Back

The three types of RNA are messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA).

Front

What is the significance of the genetic code?

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The genetic code is a set of rules that defines how the sequence of nucleotides in DNA and RNA is translated into the amino acid sequence of proteins.

Front

What is a mutation?

Back

A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that can lead to changes in protein structure and function, potentially affecting an organism's traits.

Front

What is the role of introns in genes?

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Introns are non-coding sequences within a gene that are removed during RNA processing before translation into proteins.