Translation: Protein Synthesis Flashcards
what is the process that produces proteins?
translation
on what does translation occur on and where?
ribosomes and mRNA
the coding region of mRNA is read in _____?
codons
what are codons?
sets of three nucleotides that specify individual amino acids.
codons are read sequentially in which direction?
5’-to-3’ direction starting with 5’-AUG (“start” codon) that specifies methionine.
what is set up when the start codon is found?
The reading frame is set up from this point and translation ends when a “stop” codon is reached (UAG, UGA, or UAA)
what is the start codon?
AUG or methionine
what is the stop codon?
(UAG, UGA, or UAA)
how many total codons are there?
64
what are the three codons that terminate protein synthesis? what do the remaining 61 codons specify?
3 UGA, UAG, UAA
Stop or nonsense codons
20 amino acids
what two amino acids only have 1 codon?
AUG=Met
UGG=Trp
why is the code considered degenerate but unambiguous?
Because many amino acids are specified by more than 1 codon, the code is degenerate. However, since each codon only specifies 1 amino acid it is unambiguous.
what is the variation in the third base called?
wobble hypothesis
what is the one exception for the code almost being universal?
human mitochondrial mRNA
what do we mean when the code is non overlapping?
one codon, one AA, no mix and match
what is the reading frame?
the order in which the sequence of bases in the mRNA is sorted into codons.
what does the order of the codon in the mRNA determine?
it determines the linear sequence of amino acids in the protein
for any given mRNA, how many possible reading frames are there?
three
what codon sets the reading frame for translation?
AUG
how do mutations result?
from damage to DNA nucleotides or from unrepaired errors during replication
can mutations be transcribed into mRNA?
yes, resulting in the translation of a protein with abnormal amino acids sequence.
what are the six types of mutations?
point silent missense nonsense insertion deletion
what is a point mutation?
a single base change