Gene Expression and Translation

Flashcards covering the topics of translation, codons, tRNA, ribosomes, and related information from the lecture notes.

Translation

The process of making protein from an RNA sequence.

Proteins

Give cells their particular function or phenotype, and give organs/tissues their particular phenotype.

Codon

A three-nucleotide chunk of DNA sequence that encodes one amino acid in a protein.

Redundant

The genetic code is , meaning more than one option exists for most of the amino acids that form proteins.

Start Codon

AUG, encodes the amino acid methionine.

tRNA (transfer RNA)

Aids in translation, acts as an adapter linking the codon to the amino acid.

Anticodon

The three nucleotides of complementary RNA in the tRNA.

Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases

Attach the specific amino acid to the correct tRNA.

Charged tRNA

The tRNA molecule plus its associated amino acid.

Ribosome

The enzyme complex that governs the translation process.

A site

The aminoacyl tRNA active site, recognizes the charged tRNAs.

P site

The peptidyl tRNA site, where the reaction actually happens and the amino acids are joined together.

E site

The exit site, where tRNA is kicked out to be recycled.

Shine Dalgarno sequence

A sequence that positions the small subunit in the correct location so that the first codon is the first thing it can see.

Polypeptide

Grows and are generated within the ribosome itself and then spill out of the active site once they get long enough ; has an N and C terminus.

Release Factor

Binds at the stop codon and acts as a roadblock, stopping the addition of amino acids to the polypeptide.

Polyribosome/Polyzone

A structure where many ribosomes are all bound to a single RNA molecule.