Case of the Drought Resistant Genetically Engineered Corn Plant Glossary

The water that can move from the soil to the plant by entering the plant root system.

A region of still air near the surface of a leaf through which water must diffuse en route to the atmosphere.

(deoxyribonucleic acid) The molecule that encodes genetic information. DNA is a double-stranded molecule held together by weak bonds between base pairs of nucleotides. It is the fundamental substance of which genes are composed.

The fundamental unit of heredity that carries genetic information from one generation to the next. A gene is an ordered sequence of nucleotides located on a particular position on a particular chromosome that encodes a specific functional protein.

The fundamental unit of heredity that carries genetic information from one generation to the next. A gene is an ordered sequence of nucleotides located on a particular position on a particular chromosome that encodes a specific functional protein.

The process of adding foreign DNA to the genome of an organism.

The branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited characteristics among similar or related organisms.

The process in which plants use light energy to make sugars and other organic food molecules from carbon dioxide and water.

Large molecules composed of one or more chains of amino acids in a specific order. Proteins are necessary for the structure, function, and regulation of the organism's cells, tissues, and organs. Each protein has a unique function determined by its shape.

The ability of an organism to survive and thrive in the presence of something that would normally cause damage or death, i.e., herbicide-resistant corn, Roundup-ready corn.

The inherited ability of a plant to survive and reproduce following exposure to a dose of herbicide normally lethal to the wild type. In a plant, resistance may be naturally occurring or induced by such techniques as genetic engineering or selection of variants produced by tissue culture or mutagenesis.

Ripened fertilized ovule of a flowering plant that contains an embryo and normally capable of germination.

The characteristic that results from an expressing gene(s). Ex. Upright leaves, drought tolerance, Bt resistance. A trait can be influenced by the environment.

A gene that has been genetically altered. They are usually used to transform organisms.

A plant that has a new genetically engineered DNA sequence present in every one of its cells. Genetically engineered plants are transgenic plants. These two terms are used interchangeably.