cistron
Plural: cistrons
Noun
- A segment of DNA encoding a single polypeptide chain.
- (genetics) a segment of DNA that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain; it can include regions preceding and following the coding DNA as well as introns between the exons; it is considered a unit of heredity
- The unit of hereditary material (e.g. DNA) that encodes one protein.
Examples
- Finding CISTRON on his rack, he felt a genetic predisposition to high-scoring words.
Origin / Etymology
Coined by American molecular biologist Seymour Benzer in 1957, from cis + trans + -on. Named in the context of using a "cis-trans comparison" for identifying " […] whether two mutants, having similar defects, are indeed defective in the same way."
Scrabble Score: 9
cistron: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordcistron: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cistron: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 11
cistron: valid Words With Friends Word