Callus culture A technique of tissue culture carried out with small explants or sections from established organ or other cultures, cell cultures or proliferation of Embryoids. These can be indefinitely maintained through subculturing.

Calmodulin A calcium-binding protein that modulates the activity of many target enzymes and membrane transport proteins.

Calreticulin A chaperone that promotes the binding of processed antigen and MHC. It is involved in calcium homeostasis. Also called calregulin.

Calsequestrin A Ca2+-binding protein in sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Calvin cycle The pathway by which plants fix carbon dioxide and produce triose phosphates.

Candida An oval, budding yeast that produces a pseudomycelium in culture as well as in tissue and exudates. The most common Candida species are C. albicans and C. tropicalis Infections by Candida include oral thrush (oral candidiasis), vulvovaginitis, and skin infections. Candidal infections may also occur secondary to infections of the lung and other organs.

Candidate gene A gene implicated in the causation of a gene that lies in a region that has been identified through genetic mapping. The protein product of candidate gene may identify the candidate gene as the actual disease gene being sought.

Caldesmon A calmodulin-binding protein that plays a role in regulating smooth muscle contraction. At hight calcium concentrations, caldesmon binds to the Ca2+ -calmodulin complex that causes actin to make contact with myosin resulting in muscle contraction.

Candidate-gene strategy An experimental approach used to isolate a disease gene based on the knowledge of the defective form of the protein that causes the disease.

Canine Pertaining to dogs.

Canning A method of food preservation. The food after placing in a metal can is heated, exhausted, hermetically sealed and sterilised to destroy bacterial spores.

CAP Catabolite activator protein or Catabolite repressor protein (CRP). A protein that binds to cAMP. The cAMP-CAP complex binds to the promoter region of bacterial operons involved in metabolizing sugars and enhances transcription. The protein bound to cAMP thus functions as a positive regulator of transcription.

Cap The 7-methylguanosine triphosphate residue found at the 5’ – end of eukaryotic mRNA. Addition of cap occurs during posttranscriptional processing. See G cap.

Cap binding protein (CBP) A protein involved in initiation of eukaryotic translation

Capacitation A process that a sperm undergoes in the female reproductive tract before it is competent to fertilise the egg.

Capillary array Gel-filled silica capillaries that are used to separate DNA fragments for sequencing. The small diameter of the capillaries allows application of higher electric fields and provides high speed and high-throughput separations that are faster than traditional slab gels.

Capillary electrochromatography A hybrid of HPLC and capillary electrophoresis in which the separation is carried out in capillary columns.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) A widely used technique that involves separation of molecules in a very fine capillary tube of less than 1mm under the influence of an electric field. The advantages include speed and high resolution. CE is used for large-scale DNA sequencing and high-throughput SNP detection.

Capping The addition of a 5’-methylguanosine triphosphate cap to the 5’ end of eukaryotic mRNA as a posttranscriptional modification.

Capsid The coat protein of a virus that encapsulates the viral nucleic acids. The shape of the virus is determined by the capsid. See coat protein.

Capsnatching The phenomenon of stealing preformed 5’-cap from host mRNAs by members of the orthomyxoviridae family (eg. influenza virus) by a transesterification process.

Capsomere The protein subunits of the capsid.