Question

Define the following (for example describe molecular structure/composition/character, move on to activity/catalysis, on to location within cells for the feature, and finally on to how this feature contributes to cell or organism functioning).

Gene

Non-coding RNA gene

RNAi

miRNA

siRNA

RISC

Drosha

Dicer

Argonaute

Answer 1

• Gene: GENE is a discrete unit of a chromosome. It is the basic structural and functional unit of DNA. It is the unit of heredity. It is a locus in a DNA that encodes a character or a protein or enzyme.
• Non-coding RNA gene: A messenger RNA possess coding and non-coding sequenceswhich gets translated into a protein. A non-messenger RNA is a Non-coding RNA is a part of the RNA molecule which is not gets translated into a protein/enzyme.
• RNAi: During post transriptional gene silensing, certain RNA molecules suppress the gene expression.This pathway is absent in prokaryotes and found in many eukaryotes.
• siRNA: During RNAi pathway,double stranded dsRNA gets cleaved into siRNA. This siRNA is 20 base pairs in length.