Basic Concepts - Contents

Nuclear and other genomes

From DNA to protein: transcription and translation

The "universal" genetic code

"Wobble" in the code

Key background concept: genome structure

Splicing

Starting and stopping

Key background concept: higher order structure

Levels and types of genome variation

Mechanisms of generating genetic diversity

Finding genes: cDNA

Genetic mapping

Comparative mapping

Syntenic relationships

Definition: synteny and collinear

Macrosynteny vs. microsynteny

Comparing gene function and relationships

Definitions in comparative genomics: orthology vs. paralogy

Orthologs

Conserved ortholog comparisons

Methods/criteria for identifying orthologs

Paralogous gene families

Identifying orthologs via computation

Single nucleotide polymorphisms

Comparing protein sequences

Using protein sequences for distantly related species

Amino acid translations

Gene expression

Resources and more information