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Click4Biology Protein synthesis

Click4Biology: 3.5 Transcription and Translation

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Transcription & Translation

The genotype of an organism does not interac t direc tly with the environment. Instead the genome is expressed to c reate the structural features of the organism and the c ontrolling bioc hemic al control of internal systems suc h as enzymes. 3.5.1 Comparison of RNA and DNA 3.5.2 DNA transc ription 3.5.3 Genetic c ode

3.5.1Compare the structure of RNA and DNA.(3).

Compare means to give an ac count of similarities and differenc es between two (or more) items, referring to both (all) of them throughout.

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3.5.2 Outline DNA transcription in terms of the formation of an RNA strand complementary to the DNA strand by RNA polymerase.(2).
Outline means to give a brief ac count or summary. This model illustrate the process of transcription that takes plac e in the nuc leus. The DNA base sequenc e of the gene is c opied into messenger RNA (mRNA) The DNA helix is opened at the position of the gene. The helix is unwound by RNA polymerase RNA nuc leotides are found in the nuc leus spac e. One of the polynuc leotide chains ac t as a template for mRNA Free nuc leotides base pair with DNA nuc leotides The phosphodiester bonds on the mRNA c hain are formed by RNA polymerase

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mRNA is a single polynucleotide c hain but the base thymine is replaced by Urac il. After the mRNA is c omplete the molecule detach's from the DNA and leaves the nuc leus for the c ytoplasm ribosomes. The DNA helix reforms. top

3.5.3 Describe the genetic code in terms of codons composed of triplets of bases.(2)
Desc ribe means to give a detailed ac c ount. 'You c an treat the genetic c ode like a dic tionary in which sixty-four words in one language (the sixty-four possible triplets of a four-letter alphabet) are mapped onto twenty-one words in another language (twenty amino ac ids plus a punc tuation mark). The odds of arriving at the same 64:21 mapping are less than one in a million million million million million. Yet the genetic c ode is in fac t literally identic al in all animals, plants and bac teria that have ever been looked at. All living things are c ertainly descended from a single anc estor' R.Dawkins, (1995),River out of Eden. Well ac tually the c ode is nearly Universal. Interestingly the DNA in the mitoc hondria and c hloroplast is slightly different in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. There are also some Protists in whic h UAA and UAG c ode for glutamine rather than ac ting as stop codons. The signific anc e of these differenc es is as yet unc lear The genetic c ode: A polynuc leotide is a sequence of bases Bases are either A T G or C There are 4 bases whic h operate in sets of 3 (a triplet).= 43possible triplets of DNA =64 triplets There are 20 c ommon amino ac ids Therefore 64 triplets are mapped to 20 amino ac ids However there is a 'punctuation' triplets. Therefore the mapping of the c ode is 64: 21 The genetic code is first transcribed into mRNA The mRNA c odons c an be mapped to a spec ific amino ac id. The mapping is 64 triplets: 64 codons: 21 Degenerate c ode: DNA is a degenerate c ode sinc e there are more than one triplet or c odon that maps to an amino acid or punc tuation. mRNA codon AUG c odes for Methionine and is a START signal for translation. mRNA codon UAA, UAG, UGA are all stop c odons punc tuating the c ode. GGU, GGC, GGA and GGG all code for amino ac id glyc ine. Consider what the benefits of a degenerate c ode might be from an evolutionary perspec tive? top

3.5.4 Explain the process of translation, leading to polypeptide formation.(3)

Explain means to give a detailed ac c ount of causes, reasons or mec hanisms. mRNA is translated into an amino ac id sequenc e (mapping above)

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The loc ation of translation is the ribosomes in the c ytoplasm. Ribosomes are also composed of RNA (rRNA) whic h ac ts as a catalyst for the translation of the mRNA. Free ribosomes form polypeptides (proteins ) for internal c ell use. Ribosomes on the endoplasmic retic ulum synthesis proteins for sec retion.

mRNA from the nuc leus loc ates onto the ribosome. The start c odon (initiation c odon) AUG oc cupies one of two rib some site. In this image the sec ond site is oc cupied by CUG c odon. The ribosome moves along the mRNA One mRNA c an have many ribosomes (polysome) whic h acc elerates protein synthesis.

Activation is a proc ess in which T ransfer RNA (tRNA) molecules attac h to specific amino ac ids. T he tRNA molec ule an anti-c odon, three bases that are c omplementary to the c odons on mRNA. In heterotrophs the amino ac ids for ac tivation come form c onsumed protein in the diet.

The first c odon (AUG) bonds to the tRNA anti- codon UAC. This tRNA carried the amino ac id Methionine. The second tRNA (GAC) binds to the sec ond site with mRNA c odon CUG The second tRNA c arried the amino ac id Leuc ine. Note that codon- antic odon binding is antiparallel

The link between the tRNA and the amino ac id Methionine is broken. The bond energy is transferred to form a peptide bond between methionine and Leuc ine. The first tRNA is released form the ribosome first site. This tRNA molecule moves away to pic k up more methionine.

T he ribosome move one mRNA c odon to the right (in this image). mRNA now oc cupied site one on the ribosome T he mRNA c odon is UGC whic h has the c omplementary tRNA of ACG and is c harged with Serine. T his oc c upied site site on the ribosome.

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The bond between tRNA and Leucine is broken. The bond energy is transferred to form a peptide bond between Leuc ine and Serine. The tRNA for leuc ine is released form site one. Then ribosome shift to the right and the proc ess repeats itself until the stop c odon is encountered. As the amino acid c hain is built the polypeptide self assembles into the c orrec t shape. It essentially folds up due to intra- molec ular forc es suc h as hydrogen bonds.

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3.5.5 Discuss the relationship between one gene and one polypeptide.(3)
Disc uss means to Give an ac c ount including, where possible, a range of arguments for and against the relative importanc e of various fac tors, or c omparisons of alternative hypotheses. Theory: One gene is transcribed and translated to produc e one polypeptide. Some proteins are composed of a number of polypeptides and in this theory eac h polypeptide has its own gene. e.g. haemoglobin is c omposed of 4 polypeptides (2 of eac h type) and there is a gene for eac h type of polypeptide. This theory, like so many in biology has exc eptions. e.g. 1) Some genes c ode for types of RNA whic h do not produc e polypeptides. 2) Some genes c ontrol the expression of other genes.

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