Central Dogma of Biology

1. Transcription
DNA transcribed into a complementary messenger DNA (mRNA) that can encode genetic information Longer the gene, longer the mRNA 3 sequential processes: 1. Initiation Promoter located upstream to the beginning of the gene; it tells where RNA polymerase to start transcribing and which DNA strand to transcribe Most genes have promoters consisting mostly of As and Ts, the TATA box they have 2 hydrogen bonds, which takes less energy to break open the double helix RNA polymerase (enzyme) only recognizes and binds to the promoter RNA polymerase opens the double helix 2. Elongation RNA polymerase builds single stranded mRNA complementary codons to DNA template strand in the 5 to 3 direction Strand not transcripted is the coding strand No primer needed to start; process starts as soon as RNA polymerase binds to promoter Promoter itself isn't transcribed 3. Termination When DNA polymerase passes the terminator sequence of a gene, transcription stops mRNA transcript is completely released from the DNA template strand now its called the primary transcript RNA polymerase free to bind to another promoter region 5 cap or G cap of 7-methyl guanosine that forms a modified guanine nucleoside triphosphate is added to the start of the primary transcript G cap protects mRNA from digestion by nucleases and phosphatases as it exits nucleus and enters cytoplasm, and involved in initiating translation Poly-A tail of about 200 adenine ribonucleotides added to 3 end by enzyme poly-A polymerase Spliceosomes (proteins) remove introns (noncoding regions) and join the exons (coding regions) of the mRNA

mRNA Capping & Tailing

mRNA Splicing

Primary transcript is now called mRNA transcript mRNA leaves the nucleus for the ribosomes in the cytoplasm Introns stay inside the nucleus and are their nucleotides are recycled Theres no enzyme that proofreads the mRNA transcript like in DNA replication thus more errors are made during transcription than replication Repeated transcription for same gene errors not as detrimental as in replication Transcription error protein degradation

2. Translation
Ribosomes translate mRNA into polypeptide chains of amino acids, then into proteins Ribosomes consists of 2 subunits: a large subunit (60S) and a small subunit (40S) 2 subunits bind to the mRNA by clamping it between them by hydrogen bonds 3 main stages: 1. Initiation Reading frame: phase mRNA is read in nucleotide triplets which codes for amino acids Transfer RNA (tRNA) delivers the appropriate amino acids from the cytoplasm to the ribosome to form the polypeptide chain tRNA is a single stranded nucleic acid, averaging 70-90 ribonucleotides; 1 arm is the anticodon which recognizes the mRNA codon; other arm is the aminoacyltRNA, its acceptor site at the 3 end attaches the corresponding amino acid tRNA specific to 1 amino acid, thus there are at least 20-64 different tRNAs Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (enzyme) adds the appropriate amino acid to each tRNA Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase specific to 1 amino acid and tRNA, thus there are at least 20 types e.g., mRNA codon: UAU, UAC = tyrosine; tRNA anticodon arm: AUA; tRNA 3 acceptor site: tyrosine Redundancy of genetic code makes it flexible for correct amino acid to be added to the polypeptide chain, despite errors in the mRNA gene sequence Wobble hypothesis: tRNA can recognize more than 1 codon by unusual paring between 1st base of anticodon and the 3rd base of a codon Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is a structural component of ribosomes; it binds with ribosomal proteins to form ribosomes Ribosome recognizes a specific start sequence, AUG, on the mRNA and binds to that site Ribosome moves along mRNA 3 nucleotides at a time Set of 3 nucleotides codes for 1 amino acid Triplet of nucleotides called a codon AUG (met/methionine) is the start codon (signaling initiation)

2. Elongation Ribosome moves along mRNA in 5 to 3 direction; adds new amino acid to the growing polypeptide chain as it reads a codon 1st recognized codon is the start codon AUG (methionine) ensures ribosomes correct reading frame Ribosome has 3 tRNA sites: A (aminoacyl-tRNA) site, P (peptidyl-tRNA) site and E (exit) site tRNA carries methionine to P site Next tRNA enters A site, energy used (GTP GDP) to form peptide bond between methionine and 2nd amino acid at A site Ribosome translocates 2nd tRNA at A site to P site; energy used (GTP GDP) 1st tRNA moves to E site, 2nd tRNA moves to P site, 3rd tRNA enters A site, etc

3. Termination When A site of the ribosome reaches a stop codon on mRNA, coding for an amino acid stops Stop codons (signaling termination) include UAA UAG UGA A release factor binds directly to stop codon in the A site, adding water to the polypeptide chain, hydrolyzing the bond between the chain and the tRNA in the P site, thus polypeptide is released through the exit tunnel Ribosomes subunits falls off mRNA