Ch. 22: Protein Synthesis, Post Translational Modification, and Transport Flashcards
Codon
A triplet of 3 nucleotides which together form a genetic code for DNA or RNA
tRNA (Transfer RNA)
The adaptor molecule, has the capacity to incorporate different kinds of bases
What kind of complementary pairing does tRNA use?
Codon-anticodon base pairing
Aminoacyl transferase
Enzyme required to catalyze the attachment of an amino acid to tRNA
What does amino transferase do?
Attaches a specific amino acid to the 3’ acceptor stem of the cognate tRNA molecule
AUG (Met)
The start codon
What direction is the code read in with mRNA?
5’ to 3’ direction
What does the D arm of tRNA do?
Makes sure that amino-acylation occurs
Ribothymidine pseudouridine cytosine (T sai C loop)
Locates ribosomal binding site
Acceptor Arm
Recognizes the cognate amino acid and binds to tRNA
Inosine Base Pairing
Inosine in tRNA is formed by deamination of adenosine by the enzyme tRNA-specific adenosine deaminase
What direction is tRNA in?
3’ to 5’ direction (Note: mRNA is antiparallel)
Wobble Hypothesis
Base-pairing rules may be relaxed at the 3rd position of the codon (1st position of anticodon)
Proofreading Functions of tRNA Synthetases (Correct)
When the correct tRNA (tRNAThr) and cognate amino acid (Thr) bind to the active site in step 1, then amino acylation occurs in the active site and this amino-acylated tRNA is not hydrolyzed by the editing site in step 2, thus generation the correct aminoacylated tRNA (the-tRNAThr)
Proofreading Functions of tRNA Synthetases (Incorrect)
When a chemically similar, but incorrect, amino acid (Val) binds loosely to the active site with the same tRNA (tRNAThr) in step 1, then the aminoacylated tRNA is still generated. However, the incorrect amino acid is hydrolyzed at the editing site in step 2