Protein Synthesis Study Guide

DNA and RNA

•DNA has 2 strands, RNA has 1.•DNA has thymine , RNA has uracil•DNA has deoxyribose, RNA has ribose

Nucleotides

•Phosphate•5 carbon sugar•Nitrogenous base

DNA

•Double helix•Structure discovered by Watson and Crick

Proteins

•All human proteins are made of a combination of 20 amino acids.•Amino acids are connected by peptide bonds.•Chains of amino acids make up proteins

Complementary bases

•DNA• T-A• C-G

•RNA• A-U• C-G

Three processes

•Replication: DNA made from DNA•Transcription: mRNA made from DNA•Translation: mRNA pairs up with tRNA

Mutations

• Insertion: one more base•Deletion: one less base• Inversion: a segment is flipped, but the number of bases is unchanged•Mutagen: an agent in the environment that can change DNA

The bases

•Purines: 2 rings, Adenine, Guanine•Pyrimidines: 1 ring, Thymine (in DNA), Uracil (in RNA), and Cytosine•3 base sequence in mRNA is a codon•3 base sequencein tRNA is an anti-codon

In the cell

•DNA is always found in the nucleus only•Protein synthesis takes place at the ribosome, which is made of rRNA.