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Biology - Protein Synthesis - summary

Protein Synthesis - summary

Be sure you can read an mRNA amino-acid table using the base sequences
(codons) for each amino acid. [1] Remember, there may be multiple codons
for a single amino acid (this is referred to as being degenerate or
redundant). This reduces the effect of a point mutation [2] (covered later)
if it occurs during the process of transcription [3] or translation. [4]
Why do you think this would be the case?

The following animation shows how to determine the amino acid coded for by
the mRNA sequence ACG:

Written instructions for reading the amino-acid table:

* Look for the first base [5] (letter) of the codon (triplet) in the
letter column on the left;

* Look for the second base of the codon [6] in the corresponding letter
column at the top;

* Look for the third base of the codon along the row from the right hand
side;

* Place left hand finger on left hand column A (first letter);

* Move left hand finger towards the right until in column in line with
top row C (second letter);

* Put right hand finger on third letter of codon in column to right, in
line with left hand finger;

* Move right finger along row to left until it meets left hand finger;

* Read the abbreviation for the amino acid. [7]

ALA
alanine
GIN
glutamine
LEU
leucine
SER
serine

ARG
arginine
GLU
glutamic acid
LYS
lysine
THR
threonine

ASN
asparagine
GLY
glycine
MET
methionine
TRY
tryptophan

ASP
aspartic acid
HIS
histidine
PHE
phenylalanine
TYR
tyrosine

CYS
cysteine
ISO
isoleucine
PRO
proline
VAL
valine

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Links:
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[1] http://alison.com/#
[2] http://alison.com/#
[3] http://alison.com/#
[4] http://alison.com/#
[5] http://alison.com/#
[6] http://alison.com/#
[7] http://alison.com/#