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  Home >> Molecular Biology Dictionary >> Anthocyanin - Antigenic determinant

Anthocyanin
Water-soluble blue, purple and red flavonoid pigments found in vacuoles of cells.

Anthropogenic

Of, made, or caused by human activity or

Antibiosis
The prevention of growth or development of a substance or another organism by substance or another organism.

Antibody
(Gr. anti, against + body) An immunological protein (called an immunoglobulin, Ig) produced by certain IP an immunoglobulin, Ig) produced by certain white blood cells  (lymphocytes) of the immune system of response to a contact with a foreign substance (antigen). Such an immunological protein has the ability of specifically binding with the foreign substance and rendering it harmless. The basic immunoglobulin molecule consists of two identical heavy and two inentical light chains. See monoclonal antibodies; polyclonal antibodies.

Antibody class
The class to which an antibody belongs, de type of heavy chain present. In mammals, there are five classes of antibodies: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM.

Antibody structure
Antibodies have a well-defined structure. Ea4 two identical "light" chains and two identical “heavy” chains. Each chain comprises a constant region, i.e., the same between antibodies of the same class and sub-class, and a variable region that differs between. The antigen-binding region or binding site - complementarity determining region is the variable region  - is in the variable region. The antibody can be into several fragments, known as Fab, Fab', and Fc.

Antibody-mediated (humoral) immune response
The synthesis of antibodies by B cells in response to an encounter of the cells of the immune system with a foreign immunogen.

Antibiotic resistance
Plasmids generally contain genes which confer on the host bacterium the ability to survive a given antibiotic. If the plasmid pBR322 is present in a host, that host will not be killed by (moderate levels of) ampicillin or tetracycline. By using plasmids containing antibiotic resistance genes, the researcher can kill off all the bacteria which have not taken up his plasmid, thus ensuring that the plasmid will be propagated as the surviving cells divide.

Anticlinal
The plane of cell wall orientation or cell division perpendicular (at right angles) to the surface of an organ. See tunica; periclinal. anticoding strand. The strand of the DNA double helix that is actually transcribed. Also known as the antisense or template strand.

Aticodon
A triplet of nucleotides in a tRNA molecule that pairs with a complementary triplet of nucleotides, or codon, in an mRNA molecule during translation. See codon; mRNA; RNA; tRNA.

Antigen; immunogen
A compound that elicits an immune response by stimulating the production of antibodies. The antigen, usually a protein, when introduced into a vertebrate organism is bound by the antibody or a T cell receptor. See antigenic determinant; antigenic switching.

Antigenic determinant
A surface feature of a micro-organism or macromolecule, such as a glycoprotein, that elicits an immune response. See epitope. antigenic switching The altering of a micro-organism's surface antigens through genetic re-arrangement, to elude detection by the host's immune system.

 

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