Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

AS Biology > Protein Synthesis > Flashcards

Protein Synthesis Flashcards

1
Q

What are the two types of nucleic acid?

A

DNA and RNA

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are nucleic acids made up of?

A

Nucleotides

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is a nucleotide?

A

The monomer from which nucleic acids are formed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is a nucleotide made up of?

A

Pentose sugar, nitrogenous base and a phosphoric acid

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Are purines double or single ring bases?

A

Double

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What bases are purines?

A

Adenine and guanine

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Are pyrimidines double or single ring bases?

A

Single

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What bases are pyrimidines?

A

Cytosine, thymine and uracil

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What reaction makes up a nucleotide?

A

Condensation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What reaction joins nucleotides together?

A

Condensation reactions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What bonds hold nucleotides together?

A

Phosphodiester bonds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What does DNA polymerase do?

A

Catalyses the formation of a phosphodiester bond between two nucleotides

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is a phosphodiester bond?

A

Covalent bond between two nucleotides

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is a nucleic acid?

A

A very long thread-like macromolecule

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How long are RNA molecules?

A

Relatively short - between 100 and thousands of nucleotides

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What pentose is in RNA?

A

Ribose

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What bases are in RNA?

A

Adenine, cytosine, guanine and uracil

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What are the three functional types of RNA?

A

messenger RNA, transfer RNA and ribosomal RNA

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What does mRNA do?

A

Carries a copy of a single gene to a cell’s ribosome

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What does tRNA do?

A

Carries individual amino acids to the ribosomes during protein synthesis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What does rRNA do?

A

Forms the subunits of the ribosomes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

How long are DNA molecules?

A

Very long, several million nucleotides

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What is the pentose in DNA?

A

Deoxyribose

24
Q

What are the bases in DNA?

A

Adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine

25
Q

How many polynucleotide strands in a DNA molecule?

26
Q

How many polynucleotide strands in a RNA molecule?

27
Q

What bonds hold the polynucleotide chains together in DNA?

28
Q

Where are H bonds found in DNA?

A

Between complementary base pairings between strands

29
Q

What are the complementary base pairings in DNA?

A

Adenine and thymine, cytosine and guanine

30
Q

Why are DNA strands antiparallel?

A

So that the two strands fit together

31
Q

Explain DNA replication

A

DNA helicase breaks H bonds between comp. base pairings and unwinds helix
Separated strands act as a template w exposed bases
Free nucleotides are attracted to complementary bases on strand and H bonds form
DNA polymerase reforms phosphodiester bonds and proof reads DNA
DNA ligase joins segments of DNA together

32
Q

Why is it called semi conservative replication?

A

Because in the newly formed DNA molecule there is one parent strand from the original DNA molecule

33
Q

What is the major role of DNA?

A

To make specific proteins

34
Q

What is a gene?

A

A sequence of DNA nucleotide bases that encodes for the sequence of amino acids to form a single polypeptide chain

35
Q

What is meant by the genetic code being universal?

A

The same triplets code for the same amino acids in all organisms

36
Q

How many possible triplet combinations are possible with 4 bases?

37
Q

What does degenerate mean?

A

Some amino acids are coded for by more than one base triplet

38
Q

What is a codon?

A

Nucleotide base triplet on mRNA that encodes for a single amino acid

39
Q

What is the antisense strand?

A

The polynucleotide strand in a DNA molecule that is always used in protein synthesis to determine the order of amino acids in a polypeptide

40
Q

What is meant by non-overlapping?

A

Each base pairing is only used in one triplet

41
Q

What does transcription do?

A

Forms a molecule of mRNA

42
Q

Explain the process of transcription

A

DNA helicase unwinds helix and breaks H bonds
Separated into sense and antisense strand
Antisense strand used as template with exposed bases
Complementary RNA nucleotides attracted to exposed bases and H bonds form
RNA polymerase reforms phosphodiester bonds between RNA nucleotides and mRNA is formed
Leaves nucleus via nuclear pores to fo to ribosomes

43
Q

How many amino acids involved in protein synthesis?

44
Q

Describe the structure of the tRNA molecule

A

One end has a site for the amino acid to join on to and the other end has anticodon specific to an amino acid

45
Q

How are amino acids activated?

A

Specific enzymes join specific amino acids to their specific tRNA molecules

46
Q

Explain translation

A

Ribosomes attach to the mRNA molecule and read the codons
Complementary anticodons on the tRNA molecules slot into place in the ribosome and held in place by temporary H bonds
Amino acids on the tRNA join together in condensation reactions to form peptide bonds
tRNA molecules are then free to go back to the cytoplasm and be reused
Process stops at stop codons

47
Q

What are introns?

A

Non coding sections of DNA

48
Q

What are extrons?

A

Coding sections of DNA

49
Q

What is splicing?

A

When introns are cut out of the pre mRNA before it leaves the nucleus

50
Q

What is a gene mutation?

A

A random and unpredictable change in the number or sequence of bases in a single gene

51
Q

What are mutagens?

A

Factors that increase the chance of a mutation

52
Q

What are some examples of mutagens?

A

Radiation like x rays and chemicals

53
Q

What is a base deletion?

A

When one or more bases are lost from the sequence

54
Q

What is a base insertion?

A

When one or more bases are inserted into the sequence

55
Q

What is a base substitution?

A

When one or more bases are changed for a different base

56
Q

What is a point mutation?

A

When a gene mutation only involves one base

57
Q

What is sickle cell anaemia and how does it arise?

A

When oxygen cannot be transported efficiently because of a point mutation (base substitution) in the gene that codes for haemoglobin which causes the haemoglobin to clump togetherand form long fibres

AS Biology (17 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions