exon

ex·on   (ěk'sŏn)    n.  A sequence of DNA that codes information for protein synthesis that is transcribed to messenger RNA. [ex(pressed) + -on1.] ex·on'ic adj.

exon

Stretches of DNA in genes that code for proteins. In eukaryotes, exons in a given gene are generally separated from each other by stretches of DNA that do not contain instructions for constructing proteins. (Compare intron.)

Main Entry: ex·on
Pronunciation: 'ek-"sän
Function: noun
: a polynucleotide sequence in a nucleic acid that codes information for proteinsynthesis and that is copied and spliced together with other such sequences to form messenger RNA —compare INTRON —ex·on·ic /ek-'sän-ik/ adjective

exon ex·on (ěk'sŏn)
n.
A nucleotide sequence in DNA that carries the code for the final mRNA molecule and thus defines a protein's amino acid sequence. Also called coding sequence.

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ex·on'ic adj.

exon   (ěk'sŏn)  Pronunciation Key  A segment of a gene that contains information used in coding for protein synthesis. Genetic information within genes is discontinuous, split among the exons that encode for messenger RNA and absent from the DNA sequences in between, which are called introns. Genetic splicing, catalyzed by enzymes, results in the final version of messenger RNA, which contains only genetic information from the exons. Compare intron.