| IRE | internal rotation in extension; iron-responsive element; isolated rabbit eye |
|---|---|
| IREBP | iron-responsive element binding protein |
| MEES | medical element engineering and simulation |
| Pixel | picture element |
| REE | rapid extinction effect; rare earth element; resting energy expenditure |
| transitional element | <cell biology> Region at the boundary of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi. Transport vesicles are responsible for the transfer of secretory proteins from this part of the rough endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi system. (18 Nov 1997) |
|---|---|
| enhancer element | <molecular biology> A DNA sequence, present in the genomes of higher eukaryotes and of various animal viruses, which can increase the transcription of genes into messenger RNA. These control element frequently found 5' to the start site of a gene, when bound by a specific transcription factor, enhance the levels of expression of the gene, but are not sufficient alone to cause expression. Distinguished from a promoter, that is alone sufficient to cause expression of the gene when bound, in practice, the two terms merge. Enhancers usually can function in either orientation and at various distances from a promoter. Compare: promoter. (03 Jul 1999) |
| transposable element | <molecular biology> Small, mobile DNA sequences that can replicate and insert copies at random sites within chromosomes. They have nearly identical sequences at each end, oppositely oriented (inverted) repeats and code for the enzyme, transposase, that catalyses their insertion. Bacteria have two types of transposon, simple transposons that have only the genes needed for insertion and complex transposons that contain genes in addition to those needed for insertion. Eukaryotes contain two classes of mobile genetic elements, the first are like bacterial transposons in that DNA sequences move directly. The second class (retrotransposons) move by producing RNA that is transcribed, by reverse transcriptase, into DNA which is then inserted at a new site. (13 Nov 1997) |
| extrachromosomal element | Any heritable element not associated with the chromosome. It is usually a plasmid or the DNA of organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts. (18 Nov 1997) |