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  • Early vs. late proteins

    During viral infection, viral-specific proteins are synthesized at characteristic times after infection. They are called “early” and “late.” Often under positive control of bacterial and viral sigma factors.  

  • Early vs. late genes

    Those genes transcribed early in a bacteriophage-mediated infection process as compared to those genes transcribed some time later. May require different “p factors” (sigma) for recognition of promotors.    

  • Early development

    This refers to the period of a phage infection before the start of DNA replication.  

  • Drosophila

    The name of a type of fruit fly that is commonly used in genetics experiments; due to its short life cycle (14 days) and simple genome (four chromosome pairs). Because of this, a large base of knowledge about Drosophila genetics has been accumulated by the world’s scientific community. A genus of very small flies, commonly…

  • Down promoter mutations

    Those mutations that decrease the frequency of initiation of transcription. Down promoter mutations lead to the production of less mRNA than is the case in the nonmutated state.  

  • Double helix

    The natural coiled conformation of two complementary, antiparallel DNA chains. This structure was first put forward by Watson and Crick in 1953.  

  • Donor junction

    The junction between the left 5′ end of an exon and the right 3′ end of an intron.  

  • Don

    Abbreviation for the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol, which is produced by Fusarium flingi DON. Also known as “vomitoxin,” because it can cause some animals to vomit if they consume it.  

  • Dominant allele

    Discovered by Gregor Mendel in the 1 860s, it is a gene that produces the same phenotype when it is heterozygous as it does when it is homozygous (i.e., trait, or protein, is expressed even if only one copy of the gene is present in the genome).  

  • Domain (of a protein)

    A discrete continuous part of the amino acid sequence that can be equated with a particular function.  

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