Short tandem repeat (STR) slippage
Definition
Replication slippage at a repetitive locus where the template and nascent strands temporarily misalign. If the nascent strand slips forward, one repeat unit is added; if it slips back, a repeat is deleted. Accumulated slippage events over generations create the allelic diversity at STR loci used in forensic profiling.
Related terms
- DNA polymerase
- The enzyme that synthesises new DNA by adding deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates complementary to the template strand. In humans, polymerase delta copies the lagging...
- Frameshift mutation
- A change in the reading frame of a coding sequence caused by an insertion or deletion of a number of nucleotides that...
- Okazaki fragment
- A short segment of DNA (100 to 200 nucleotides in eukaryotes) synthesised on the lagging template strand in the 5-prime to 3-prime...
- Point mutation
- A change in a single nucleotide in the DNA sequence. A transition substitutes one purine for another or one pyrimidine for another...
- Semi-conservative replication
- The mode of DNA copying in which each daughter double helix retains one parental strand and acquires one newly synthesised strand, confirmed...
Explained in
- DNA Replication and MutationReplication slippage at a repetitive locus where the template and nascent strands temporarily misalign. If the nascent strand slips forward, one repeat unit is...