Microbiology terms - R
- radioimmunoassay
- An immunological assay employing radioactive antibody or antigen for the
detection of certain substances in body fluids.
- radioisotope
- An isotope of an element that undergoes spontaneous decay with the release
of radioactive particles.
- reaction center
- A photosynthetic complex containing chlorophyll (or bacteriochlorophyll)
and other components, within which occurs the initial electron transfer
reactions of photophosphorylation.
- reading-frame shift
- See frameshift.
- recalcitrant
- Resistant to microbial attack.
- recombinant DNA
- A DNA molecule containing DNA originating from two or more sources.
- recombination
- Process by which genetic elements in two separate genomes are brought
together in one unit.
- redox
- See oxidation-reduction reaction.
- reduction
- A process by which a compound accepts electrons to become reduced.
- reduction potential
- The inherent tendency of a compound to act as an electron donor or an
electron acceptor. Measure in volts.
- reductive dechlorination
- Removal of Cl as Cl- from an organic compound by reducing the carbon
atom from C-Cl to C-H.
- regulation
- Proceses that control the rates of synthesis of proteins. Induction and
repression are examples of regulation.
- regulon
- A set of operons that are all controlled by the same regulatory protein
(repressor or activator).
- replacement vector
- A cloning vector, such as a bacteriophage, in which some of the DNA of the
vector can be replaced with foreign DNA.
- replication
- Conversion of one double-stranded DNA molecule into two identical
double-stranded DNA molecules.
- repression
- The process by which the synthesis of an enzyme is inhibited by the
presence of an external substance, the repressor.
- repressor protein
- A regulatory protein that binds to sepecific sites on DNA and blocks
transcription.
- reservoir
- In epidemiology, the organism or environment that normally harbors a
pathogen.
- respiration
- Catabolic reactions producing ATP in which either organic or inorganic
compounds are primary electron donors and organic or inorganic
compounds are ultimate electron acceptors.
- Restriction endonucleases (restriction enzymes)
- Enzymes that recognize and cleave specific DNA sequences, generating
either blunt or single-stranded (sticky) ends.
- retrovirus
- Virus containing single-stranded RNA as its genetic material and which
produces a complementary DNA by action of the enzyme reverse
transcriptase.
- reverse electron transport
- The energy-dependent movement of electrons against the thermodynamic
gradient to form a strong reductant from a weaker electron donor.
- reverse transcriptase
- The enzyme responsible for the process of reverse transcription.
- reverse transcription
- The process of copying information found in RNA into DNA.
- rheumatic fever
- An inflammatory autoimmune disease triggered by an immune response to
infection by Streptococcus pyogenes.
- rhizosphere
- The region immediately adjacent to plant roots.
- ribonucleic acid (RNA)
- A polymer of nucleotides connected via a phosphate-ribose backbone,
involved in protein synthesis.
- robisomal RNA (rRNA)
- Types of RNA found in the ribosome; some participate actively in the
process of protein synthesis.
- ribosome
- A cytoplasmic particle composed of ribosomal RNA and protein, which is
part of the protein-synthesizing machinery of the cell.
- ribozyme
- An RNA molecule that can catalyze a chemical reaction.
- rickettsias
- Obligate intracellular parasites which cause a variety of disease, including
typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
- RNA life
- A hypothetical life form lacking DNA and protein which may have existed
on early earth and in which RNA served both a genetic coding and a
catalytic function.
- RNA processing
- The conversion of a precursor RNA into its mature form.
- rod
- See bacillus.
- root nodule
- A tumor-like growth on plant roots that contains symbiotic nitrogen-fixing
bacteria.
- rumen
- The forestomach of ruminant animals in which cellulose digestion occurs.
Compiled by Tsute Chen, Converted by Ben Hoyt