8.1 Flashcards
The Genetic Code
what do chromosomes consist of?
protein-bound linear DNA
what is the importance of genes during protein synthesis?
the nucleotide bases of a gene encode the primary structure of the protein/ sequence of amino acids
What is the genetic code?
The way the bases on the mRNA code for the information about the sequence of amino acids
what is a codon?
A group of three bases that code for one amino acid
What is a Genome?
the entire set of genes present in a cell
what is a proteome?
the entire complement of proteins that can be expressed from genes
what are the features of codons?
- each codon codes for one amino acid
-the codons don’t overlap
-64 different codes for amino acids can be made
-codons can translate for 20 amino acids
-the code is universal
why is the genetic code sometimes known as the degenerate code?
because some amino acids have up to 6 codons coding for them while other amino acids have only 1 codon coding for it
What are exons and Introns?
-Extron: coding sequence
-Introns: Non-coding sequence
What is the start codon?
It is the codon that begins the amino acid sequence
– Always AUG - Methanionine
What is the stop codon? why can it be a problem sometimes?
It’s the codon that marks the stop of the amino acid sequence.
Sometimes, a mutation can occur in one of the nucleotide bases, causing a different codon to be formed. So, instead of a codon that codes for an amino acid, a stop codon can be formed due to a mutation, so the amino acid sequence will be stopped earlier than normal.
what are the benefits of the genetic code being universal?
Organisms such as bacteria can produce human proteins like insulin
