8. Glossary

enzyme; enzyme

A protein-based biological catalyst that accelerates a chemical reaction without altering the final equilibrium. At the end of the reaction, the molecule is available for a new substrate (reagent).

cytoplasme; cytoplasm

Cellular fluid in which all the internal components of the cell under study are immersed. In the latter, a large number of enzymatic reactions take place for functional purposes (replication, transcription or translation, already seen), structural purposes (initial formation of the peptidoglycan or capsule) or pigment synthesis, to name but a few.

mutation; mutation

A stable, heritable change in the genome of a living organism. This modification concerns one or more pairs of nitrogenous bases in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA or...