TRANSPOSON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does transposon mean? 

• TRANSPOSON (noun)
  The noun TRANSPOSON has 1 sense:

1. a segment of DNA that can become integrated at many different sites along a chromosome (especially a segment of bacterial DNA that can be translocated as a whole)

  Familiarity information: TRANSPOSON used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRANSPOSON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A segment of DNA that can become integrated at many different sites along a chromosome (especially a segment of bacterial DNA that can be translocated as a whole)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

jumping gene; transposon

Hypernyms ("transposon" is a kind of...):

deoxyribonucleic acid; desoxyribonucleic acid; DNA ((biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information)

 Context examples 

Transposons carry potential for crop improvement.

(Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops, University of Cambridge)

In the study, researchers tagged cells using a transposon, a piece of genetic code that can jump to a random point in DNA when exposed to an enzyme called transposase, to track blood progenitors and adult stem cells during the natural, unperturbed process of blood regeneration.

(Cellular barcoding helps scientists understand the behavior of stem cells, National Institutes of Health)

Transposon activity is a native tool already present within the plant, which can be harnessed to generate new phenotypes or resistances and complement gene targeting efforts.

(Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops, University of Cambridge)

In a large population size, such as a tomato field, in which transposons are activated in each individual we would expect to see diverse new traits.

(Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops, University of Cambridge)

Only now are scientists realising that transposons are not junk at all but actually play an important role in the evolutionary process, and in altering gene expression and the physical characteristics of plants.

(Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops, University of Cambridge)

Using transposons to generate new mutations offers a transgene-free method of breeding that acknowledges the current EU legislation on Genetically Modified Organisms.

(Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops, University of Cambridge)

Transposons, more commonly called jumping genes, are mobile snippets of DNA code that can copy themselves into new positions within the genome - the genetic code of an organism.

(Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops, University of Cambridge)