Week 9 Flashcards
What is tRNA?
= transfer RNA
- the adapter molecule that forms the interface between amino acids and mRNA in protein synthesis
What is rRNA?
= ribosomal RNA
- structural and catalytic components of ribosomes
What is RNA editing?
= when information content of genes is changed by
1) changing the structures of individual bases (tRNAs, rRNAS)
2) mRNA is modified by endogenous guide RNAs
3) uridine monophosphate residues are deleted or inserted
When does RNA editing occur?
after transcription
What are guide RNAs?
= small RNAs that are synthesized in cells
- can insert U residues into an mRNA
- mRNA and guide RNA hydrogen bond where they are complementary but unpaired loops also form in guide RNA
- a repair polymerase can use the unpaired A residues in the guide RNA s a template and insert complementary U residues at these positions
- permanent modification! = new codons, new amino acids in polypeptide
How can enzymes edit mRNA?
= example is cytidine deaminase
- can convert C residues in mRNA to U residues and alters the mRNA codons
- example: CAA (glutamine codon) is turned into UAA which generates a premature stop codon and resutls in truncated polypeptide, which will have a different function
Who postulated the existence of tRNA?
Francis Crick in 1956 = as adapter b/n amino acids and codons in mRNA
What function do tRNAs serve?
= permit codons in mRNA to be read as amino acids by the ribosomes
What is the recognition sequence of tRNA?
= the 3’ end of tRNA has a recognition sequence that reads 5’ CCA 3’
- used for covalent joining of the amino acid that corresponds to that particular tRNA
What is the anticodon sequence of tRNA?
- a sequence that corresponds to an mRNA sequence and can undergo complementary base pairing with this corresponding codon in the mRNA
What kinds of nucleotides are contained in tRNA?
- modified ribonucleotides
- created by tRNA modifying enzymes
What are ribosomes composed of?
- a small subunit and a large subunit
- both are assembled from many different proteins and rRNAs
- it is an “RNA machine” with key roles in protein synthesis, including formation of peptide bonds between amino acids
How are prokaryotic rRNAs made?
= by prokaryotic RNA polymerase
How are eukaryotic rRNAs made?
= the larger rRNAs are made by RNA polymerase I and the smaller rRNAs are mad by RNA polymerase III
What is the 16S rRNA in prokaryotes?
= helps form the small ribosomal subunit and carries the complementary sequence to the Shine-Delgarno sequence in the mRNA that specifies ribosome assembly
What is the nucleolus?
= site of eukaryotic rRNA synthesis and ribosome assembly
a nuclear sub-region (dark staining very chromatin dense but no nuclear enveloppe)
Where does ribosome assembly occur in prokaryotes?
= since there is no nucleus, rRNA synthesis and ribosome assembly occur in cytoplasm
How are mature rRNAs formed?
- enzymes modify and trim precursor rRNA transcripts to mature forms in the cell
What is the difference between mature prokaryotic and eukaryotic rRNAs?
Prokaryotic: results in mature RNAs: 16S rRNA, 23S rRNA, 5S rRNA as well as tRNA
Eukaryotic: 18S rRNA, 5.8S rRNA, 28S rRNA
result of the long precursor rRNA transcript being processed and ribonucleotide modifications to form mature forms
What are snRNAs?
small nuclear RNAs
act as complexes with proteins
play roles in post-transcriptional processing of RNA (like splicing - spliceosome assembly)
What are snoRNAs?
small nucleolar RNAs
also act in complexes with proteins
- in eukaryotes: guide the enzymatic chemical modifications of ribosomal RNAs, transfer RNAs, and small nuclear RNAs
What are examples of small micro RNAs?
- siRNA (small inhibitory RNA)
- miRNA (microRNA)
- CRISPR RNA
What are common features of small micro RNAs in eukaryotes?
- act as short (22 nucleotides), single-stranded RNAs that bind to complementary sequences
- produced by cleavage of mRNAs, RNA transposons, and RNA viruses
- regulate and control gene expression in different ways
What does siRNA do?
binds to mRNA and inhibits translation
What does miRNA do?
binds to mRNA and causes it to be degraded
What are features of small micro RNAs in prokaryotes?
- CRISPR RNA: encoded by DNA sequences found in prokaryotic genomes
- works in association with prokaryotic Cas9 nuclease to cleave foreign DNA that might happen to enter a host cell (prevents incorporation of foreign DNA into host genome - a bacterial defense system)
What are long noncoding RNAs?
= known to function in eukaryotic cells and are longer than micro-RNAs (200-100000 nt long)
- about 80% of mammalian genome consists of non-protein coding RNAs