Verified Solutions
Centrosome - ANSWER The main microtubule organizing centre
of a cell, which organizes the microtubule cytoskeleton during
interphase and positions many of the cytoplasmic organelles.
microtubule organizing centre (MTOC) - ANSWER An anchoring
point near the centre of a eukaryotic cell from which most
microtubules extend outward.
Centrioles - ANSWER A cylindrical structure consisting of nine
triplets of microtubules in the centrosomes of most animal cells.
cell cycle checkpoints - ANSWER Internal control of the cell
cycle that prevents a critical phase from beginning until the
previous phase is complete.
Metastasis - ANSWER The spreading of a malignant tumour through the
blood system or the lymphatic system, forming new tumours at other
locations in the body.
oncogenes - ANSWER A gene that, when deregulated, is
capable of inducing one or more characteristics of cancer cells.
apoptosis - ANSWER Programmed cell death.
Caspases - ANSWER A protease involved in programmed cell
death.
Transformation - ANSWER The conversion of the hereditary type of a cell
by the uptake of DNA released by the breakdown of another cell.
, Transduction - ANSWER In cell signalling, the process of changing a
signal into the form necessary to cause the cellular response. In
prokaryotes, the process in which DNA is transferred
from donor to recipient bacterial cells by an infecting bacteriophage.
bacteriophages - ANSWER A virus that infects bacteria. Also
referred to as a phage.
Generalized transduction - ANSWER Transfer of bacterial genes
between bacteria using virulent phages that have incorporated
random DNA fragments of the bacterial genome.
lytic cycle - ANSWER The series of events from infection of one bacterial
cell by a phage through the release of progeny phages from lysed cells.
specialized transduction - ANSWER Transfer of bacterial genes
between bacteria using temperate phages that have incorporated
fragments of the bacterial genome as they make the transition
from the lysogenic cycle to the lytic cycle.
prophage - ANSWER A viral genome inserted in the host cell
DNA.
lysogenic cycle - ANSWER Cycle in which the DNA of the bacteriophage
is integrated into the DNA of the host bacterial cell and may remain for
many generations.
Minimal medium - ANSWER A growth medium containing the minimal
ingredients that enable a nonmutant organism, such as E. coli, to grow.
prototroph - ANSWER A strain that is able to synthesize the
necessary amino acids.
auxotroph - ANSWER Mutant strain that is unable to synthesize
amino acids.
, alleles - ANSWER One of two or more versions of a gene.
partial diploid - ANSWER A condition in which part of the genome of a
haploid organism is diploid. Recipients in bacterial conjugation between an
Hfr and an F cell become partial diploids for part of the Hfr bacterial
chromosome.
recombinant - ANSWER Phenotype with a different combination
of traits from those of the original parents.
gametes - ANSWER A haploid cell; an egg or sperm. Haploid cells fuse
during sexual reproduction to form a diploid zygote.
Meiosis - ANSWER a type of cell division that results in four
daughter cells each with half the number of chromosomes of the
parent cell, as in the production of gametes and plant spores.
Somatic cells - ANSWER Any of the cells of an organism's body
other than reproductive cells.
meiocytes - ANSWER A cell that is destined to divide by
meiosis.
meiosis 1 - ANSWER The first division of the meiotic cell cycle in which
homologous chromosomes pair and undergo an exchange of chromosome
segments, and then the homologous chromosomes separate, resulting in
two cells, each with the haploid number of chromosomes and with each
chromosome still consisting of two chromatids.
synapsis - ANSWER Process in meiosis in which homologous
chromosomes come together and pair. Also known as pairing.
Meiosis II - ANSWER The second division of the meiotic cell cycle in
which the sister chromatids in each of the two cells produced by meiosis I
separate and segregate into different cells, resulting in four cells each with
the haploid number of chromosomes.