DNA

m RNA

PROTEINS
 Replication of DNA
 The DNA in the chromosomes is copied in a
process called DNA replication.
 Without DNA replication, new cells would
have only half the DNA of their parents.
 Species could not survive, and individuals
could not grow or reproduce successfully. All
organisms undergo DNA replication.
 How DNA replicates
 begins as an enzyme breaks the hydrogen
bonds between bases that hold the two
strands together,
 unzipping the DNA
 DNA helicase
 enzyme bonds free floating nucleotides
into a chain.
 DNA Polymerase
 How DNA replicates
 Each new strand formed is a complement of
one of the original, or parent, strands.
 The result is the formation of two DNA
molecules, each of which is identical to the
original DNA molecule.
Three types of RNA
1. messenger RNA (mRNA)
 brings instructions from DNA in the nucleus
to the cytoplasm.
2. ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
 binds to the mRNA and uses the instructions
to assemble the amino acids in the correct
order
3. transfer RNA(tRNA)
 delivers amino acids to the ribosome to be
assembled into a protein
 DNA double helix must unwind near the
gene that is getting transcribed.
 Transcription uses one of the two exposed
DNA strands as a template
 called the template strand
 RNA product is complementary to the
template strand
Transcription initiation
 RNA polymerase binds to the DNA of the
gene at a region called the promoter
 begin transcribing.
 RNA polymerases are enzymes that
transcribe DNA into RNA.
 Activator
 a molecule that increases the activity of an
enzyme or a protein that increases the
production of a gene product in DNA
transcription.
Elongation
 stage when the RNA strand gets longer,
 addition of new nucleotides.
 RNA polymerase "walks" along one strand in
the 3' to 5' direction
 For each nucleotide in the template, RNA
polymerase adds a matching
(complementary) RNA nucleotide to the 3'
end of the RNA strand.
Transcription termination
 process of ending transcription is
called termination
 transcription is finished.
 An RNA transcript that is ready to be used in
translation is called a messenger
RNA (mRNA).
mRNA tRNA
TRANSLATION INITIATION
 Small unit ribosome binds to the mRNA
strand
 moves along the mRNA in the 5'-to-
3'direction
 mRNA strand remains continuous, but the
true initiation point is the start codon, AUG
 amino acid methionine (met)
 mRNA, the tRNA, and the first amino acid all
come together within the ribosome.
TRANSLATION INITIATION
 Met-tRNA possessing AUC codon pairs up
with the AUG codon of the mRNA
 Large ribosomal unit combines with the
small ribosomal unit
With 3 parts
 Acceptor site (A site)
 Peptidyl site (P site)
 Exit site (E site)
 RNA-binding sites in the ribosome
Each ribosome has:
• a binding site for mRNA
• three binding sites for tRNA

• A-site: aminoacyl-tRNA
• P-site: peptidyl-tRNA
• E-site: exit
TRANSLATION ELONGATION
 ribosome travelling down the message,
reading codons and bringing in the proper
aminoacyl tRNA’s to translate the message
out to protein.
 the addition of amino acids by the formation
of peptide bonds.
 eventually create the polypeptide.
TRANSLATION ELONGATION
 incoming aminoacyl tRNA is brought into the
ribosome A site
 where it is matched with the codon being
presented.
 A bond is formed between the Met and
Amino acid in the tRNA
TRANSLATION ELONGATION
 the bond between the peptide and the
aminoacyl tRNA in the P site is broken,
 peptidyltransferase
 a new bond is simultaneously formed
between the (momentarily unattached)
peptide and the new amino acid in the A site.
 The ribosome then moves over by 3 bases
 spent tRNA is ejected from the E site.
TRANSLATION TERMINATION
 occurs when a nonsense codon (UAA, UAG,
or UGA) is encountered
 no complementary tRNA.
Steps in Translation
1. Ribosome binds to mRNA at a specific area.
2. The ribosome starts matching tRNA anticodon
sequences to the mRNA codon sequence.
3. Each time a new tRNA comes into the
ribosome, the amino acid that it was carrying gets
added to the elongating polypeptide chain.
4. The ribosome continues until it hits a stop
sequence, then it releases the polypeptide and the
mRNA.
5. The polypeptide forms into its native shape and
starts acting as a functional protein in the cell.