Chapter 13 - RNA and protein synthesis

RNA

• Single-stranded nucleic acid

  • Looks like a DNA strand cut in half

Transcription

• synthesis of an RNA  molecule from a DNA template (364)

Genetic Code

• collection of codons of mRNA, each of which directs the incorporation of a particular amino acid into a protein during protein synthesis (366)

mRNA

• (messenger RNA)- does transcription

  • The RNA molecules that carry copies of instructions

Translation

• a process by which the sequence of bases of an mRNA is converted into the sequence of amino acids of a protein (368)

Codon

• a group of three nucleotide bases in mRNA that specify a particular amino acid to be incorporated into a protein (366)

tRNA

• (transfer RNA)- involved in translation

  • Carries amino acids to the ribosome and matches them to the coded mRNA message

Anticodon

• group of three bases on a tRNA molecule that are complementary to the three bases of a codon of mRNA (369)

rRNA

• (ribosomal RNA)- what the ribosome is made of

  • Forms an important part of both subunits of the ribosome

Mutations

• Change in the genetic material of a cell (372)

Polypeptides

• Long chain of amino acids that makes proteins (376)