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Lecture-7

Transcription is the process where DNA is copied into messenger RNA (mRNA), which then translates genetic information into proteins, following the central dogma of molecular biology. The transcription process involves initiation, elongation, and termination, while translation occurs in the cytoplasm where mRNA is decoded into amino acids by transfer RNA (tRNA). The genetic code, composed of codons, determines the specific amino acids that correspond to each three-base sequence, with distinct start and stop codons marking the beginning and end of protein synthesis.

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17 views3 pages

Lecture-7

Transcription is the process where DNA is copied into messenger RNA (mRNA), which then translates genetic information into proteins, following the central dogma of molecular biology. The transcription process involves initiation, elongation, and termination, while translation occurs in the cytoplasm where mRNA is decoded into amino acids by transfer RNA (tRNA). The genetic code, composed of codons, determines the specific amino acids that correspond to each three-base sequence, with distinct start and stop codons marking the beginning and end of protein synthesis.

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Bianca Pentecoste
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CHAPTER 6

In transcription, the template strand of DNA is used to produce a complementary strand of RNA.
Transcription is the most controlled and best understood part of gene regulation.
How does dna lead to rna and protein?
✓ The information
stored in DNA must
be expressed in the
proper combination
of amino acids
representing a
particular protein.
The way this
expression works is
now so well
established that it is
called the central dogma of molecular biology.
o The dogma states that the information contained in DNA molecules is transferred
to RNA molecules, and then from the RNA molecules the information is expressed
in the structure of proteins.
✓ Gene expression is the turning on or activation of a gene. Transmission of information
occurs in two steps: transcription and translation.
✓ The use of genes to produce proteins is called gene expression.
o 1. During transcription, DNA in the nucleus of a cell is copied into messenger
RNA molecules.
2. The messenger RNA then moves into the cell's cytoplasm and attaches to a
ribosome, where itis translated into a protein.
✓ Once DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA and translated into a protein, the process
cannot be reversed. That is, information cannot be transferred from the protein back to
the nucleic acid. This is the central dogma of molecular biology.
TRANSCRIPTION
✓ The sequence of nitrogenous
bases in a gene provides the
genetic instructions needed
to construct a protein.
Transcription occurs when a
series of chemical signals
within the cell causes the
gene for a specific
protein to "turn on," or
become active. During
transcription, a segment of
DNA is transcribed, or
copied, to produce a complementary strand of messenger RNA (mRNA). Transcription
occurs in the nucleus of the cell.
The three main processes that occur during transcription are described below.
1. Initiation — During initiation, enzymes bind to a DNA sequence and unwind the
double helix to expose a
strand of nucleotides.
2. Elongation — As the DNA molecule unwinds, an enzyme called RNA polymerase
pairs complementary RNA nucleotides with the DNA nucleotides on one of the exposed
strands. Adenine (A) on DNA pairs with uracil (U) on RNA, cytosine (C) pairs with
guanine (G), and thymine (T) pairs with adenine (A). For example, if the DNA strand
reads 'ACG,' the complementary RNA strand would read 'UGC.'
3. Termination — Once the gene is transcribed, the new RNA molecule breaks away
and the DNA strands are wound back together.

✓ Through transcription, the DNA code is transferred to mRNA in the nucleus.


✓ Other RNAs are similarly transcribed. rRNA is needed to form ribosomes, and tRNA is
required to carry out the translation into protein language.
✓ The transcribed information on the different RNA molecules is then carried out of the
nucleus

TRANSLATION
✓ The mRNA serves as a template on which the amino acids are assembled in the proper
sequence. To complete the assembly, the information that is written in the language of
nucleotides must be translated into the language of amino acids.
✓ The translation is done by another type of RNA, transfer RNA an exact, word-to-word
translation occurs. Each amino acid in the protein language has a corresponding word in
the RNA language. Each word in the RNA language is a sequence of three bases. This
correspondence between three bases and one amino acid is called the genetic code.
✓ The three-base code in DNA or mRNA is called a codon.
✓ They are always coded in threes
✓ Each triplet code corresponds with one amino acid
✓ This is where TRANSLATION begins
✓ Translation begins when mRNA binds to the RIBOSOME in the cell.
✓ In translation, tRNA molecules act as the interpreters of the mRNA codon sequence.
✓ At the middle of the folded strand, there is a three-base coding sequence in the tRNA
called the anticodon.
✓ Each anticodon is complementary to a codon on the mRNA.
✓ In higher organisms (eukaryotes), transcription and translation occur sequentially. The
transcription takes place in the nucleus.
✓ After RNA leaves the nucleus and enters the cytoplasm, the translation takes place there.
✓ In lower organisms (prokaryotes), there is no nucleus and thus transcription and
translation occur simultaneously in the cytoplasm.

Codons & the Genetic Code


How exactly does a sequence of nucleotides result in a chain of amino acids? The answer lies
in the genetic code (or triplet code), which determines which amino acid corresponds with each
three-base codon. Because codons contain three nitrogenous bases, the genetic code could
theoretically produce 64 amino acids (four possible bases in the first position multiplied by four
in the second position and four in the third). However, most amino acids are coded for by more
than one codon. Consequently, the genetic code can only produce 20 different amino acids.
An mRNA transcript must have distinct starting and ending points, which are indicated
by a start codon (AUG, which codes for methionine) and a stop codon (UAA, UAG, or UGA). As
with all nucleic acid sequences, codons are transcribed and translated in the 5'→3' direction.

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