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Home >> Dictionary of Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, Biotechnology >> Fat Soluble Vitamins, Feulgens's Test
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Fat protein A nonclassical cadherin first identified as a tumour suppressor gene product in Drosophila.
Fate The type of differentiated cell that a given cell will become in the future.
Fate map A map of an embryo revealing the adult tissues that will develop from the descendants of cells that occupy specific regions of the embryo.
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Fatty acids Aliphatic carboxylic acids containing a long hydrocarbon chain. The fatty acid may be fully saturated (containing no double bonds) or unsaturated (containing one or more double bonds). The most abundant fatty acids have even number of carbon atoms and unsaturated fatty acids predominate over saturated ones. The most common fatty acids in animals are oleic, palmitic, stearic and palmitoleic acid.
Examples of some fatty acids
CH3-(CH2)14 –COOH CH3-(CH2)5-CH=CH-(CH2)7-COOH
Palmitic acid Palmitoleic acid
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FBJ An acronym derived from the names of the discoverers Finkel, Biskes and Jinkens of the FBJ murine osteosarcoma virus.
Fc The portion of the immunoglobulin heavy chain molecule that lacks the antigen binding region. It is the constant region of the antibody molecule.
Fc receptor A member of a family of receptors specific for the invariant constant region (Fc region) in all immunoglobulins except lgD and lgM.
Feature Annotation on a specific location on a given sequence.
Fecundity The measure of fertility, for example, sperm count or the production of viable eggs.
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Fed-batch fermentation Culture of cells or microorganisms in which nutrients are added periodically to the bioreactor.
Feedback inhibition The process by which the end product of a biochemical pathway regulates its own synthesis by inhibiting an earlier step of the pathway. See end-product inhibition.
Feeder layer In tissue culture, a layer of cells that forms a product that supports the growth of another cell type in co-culture. These are useful in growing cells that cannot grow in purely synthetic culture medium.
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Feedforward control Stimulation of an enzyme by a product of the metabolic pathway of which the enzyme is a component
Feedforward neural network Organisation of nodes into different layers with nodes in each layer connected with nodes in the next except for the final output layer. The input is fed from the input layer in a ‘feedforward’ direction resulting in output at the final layer. See also neural networks.
Feedstock The raw material used for chemical or biological processes.
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Fatty liver Excessive accumulation of lipid in the liver that causes fibrotic changes which progresses to cirrhosis and eventually liver failure.
Fatty streaks Early atherosclerotic lesions occurring in the intimal layer that are small and non-obstructive. These contain fibrous tissue and lipid deposits (predominantly cholesterol oleate) is smooth muscle cells and macrophages (foam cells).
Federated databases An integrate repository data from multiple, possibly heterogeneous, data sources presented with consistent and coherent semantics. They do not usually contain any summary data, and all of the data resides only at the data source (i.e. no local storage).
Feedback control The regulation of enzyme activity by one of its own products.
Feline sarcoma virus (FSV) A retrovirus that causes sarcomas in cats.
FEN1 A eukaryotic enzyme that cleaves RNA primers in Okazaki fragment.
Fat-soluble vitamins Vitamins that are soluble in lipid solvents. These include vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Fatty acid synthase A multifunctional enzyme required for fatty acid synthesis
Fermentation 1. In biochemistry, a term used to described the breakdown of carbon compounds (usually glucose) by cells or organisms to form ATP in the absence of molecular oxygen. 2. In chemical engineering, a term used to describe the growth of cells or microorganisms in specialised vessels called fermenters or bioreactors.
Fermentation substrates Substances that are used as food for growing microorganisms. The fermentation substrates and essential trace materials together with chemicals that facilitate fermentation form the culture medium.
Fermenter See bioreactor.
Ferritin The most available storage form of iron present in the intestine, liver, spleen and bone marrow. It contains about 35 per cent iron in a soluble form. Circulating ferritin, although present in low concentration (100 μg/L), is in equilibrium with stored ferritin. Ferritin is an acute phase protein that is increased in inflammatory conditions. Plasma ferritin concentrations are increased in iron overload, liver disease and malignancy due to release of the protein from tissues. It is used as a nonradioactive label for visualizing antibodies bound to a specific antigen such as in a Western blot.
Fertile Capable of breeding and reproduction.
Fertilisation The union of tow gametes from opposite sexes to form a zygote. This involves fusion of nuclei of the gametes (karyogamy) as well as the fusion of cytoplasm. (plasmogamy). Since each gamete contains a haploid set of chromosomes the resulting nucleus after fusion contains a diploid set of chromosomes.
Fertiliser A substance that is added to the soil in order to increase its productivity. Fertilisers can be of natural origin (eg. composts) or artificial (inorganic chemicals such as nitrates and phosphates).
Fes An oncogene carried by Snyder Theilen strain of feline sarcoma virus (FSV) that catalyses the phosphorylation of tyrosine residues. fes is an acronym for feline sarcoma.
Fetoscopy See foetoscopy.
Fetal calf serum (FCS) See foetal calf serum.
Fetus See foetus.
Feulgen reagent A DNA-specific stain (fuchsin sulphite) that stains chromatin in the nucleus strongly. This fact was cited as evidence by Robert Feulgen in 1914 that DNA is the hereditary material.
Feulgen’s test A histochemical test by which the distribution of DNA in the chromosomes of dividing cell nuclei can be visualised. This involves treating the tissue section with dilute hydrochloric acid to remove the purine bases of DNA and exposing the aldehyde groups of the deoxyribose sugar. The section is subsequently immersed in Schff’s reagent, which combines with the aldehyde groups to form a magenta-coloured compound.
Fever An increase in body temperature over the normal 98.60F (370C)
FGP (Fluorescent Green Protein) A naturally occurring fluorescent protein isolated from jellyfish. It is used as a molecular tag to determine the cellular location of various proteins to which it can be fused.
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