Adventures in Protein Synthesis
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You will work through Protein Synthesis as you answer the following questions:
WORD BANK (you can expect to use terms more than once)
ribosome
enzyme
triplet
gene
nucleotides
double helix
mRNA
DNA sequence
folds
Transcription
unzip
amino acid
one
DNA
RNA polymerase
two
function
codon
protein
Translation
polypeptide
peptide
shape
DNA
PROTEIN SYNTHESIS - TRANSCRIPTION
1. ____________________ is the copying of a ______ (a section of _____) to make ______. It is the
FIRST process that must happen in order to make a ___________. In order for transcription to
occur DNA must ________.
2. Notice that the DNA molecule has unzipped to make _____ strands. Only _____ strand is used
for _____________________.
3. An _______________ called _____ ___________________ is used to add new RNA
____________________ to make _________.
4. Now _____ _____________________ is ready to add new ____________________. RNA polymerase
is touching the first ________________ of the _____ ______________.
DNA:
mRNA:
TAC AGT TAC AGT TTT CTG GCT TTT CTG GCT AGT TAC TTT ACT
5. When transcription is done, you have made ______ (____________________ RNA), which carries
the information needed to make a _______________.
6. _______ zips back up to reform a ____________ _________. _______ must leave the
_______________ and travel to the site of protein synthesis, the __________________.
LEARNING CHECK
1. Both DNA and RNA are made of subunits, or building blocks, called ___________________.
2. What is the name of the enzyme that adds new nucleotides to build mRNA? ____
_________________
3. How many strands does DNA have? _____How many strands does mRNA have? _____
4. Which mRNA nucleotide is complementary to guanine? ______________ to adenine?
___________ to thymine? _______________
5. What is the function of mRNA?
6. What happens to DNA once transcription is done?
PROTEIN SYNTHESIS - TRANSLATION
1. Once mRNA is made, what is the location where mRNA must go for translation to occur?
2. What exactly is produced during translation?
3. In order to understand translation, you must understand that a _______________ is a chain of
___________ __________. The order of the amino acids in the chain and the length of the chain
determine what _________ of protein it will _____ and what it will _____.
4. You must also understand that mRNA ________________ the instructions for how to make a
protein as ________________, which is a ______________ of _______________________ bases on
mRNA. Each codon ________ for one _____________ ________. For example, the codon AUG
codes for the amino acid _______________________ (_____)
5. What type of codon is AUG, specifically? ____________
6. What is the name of the cart used to determine which amino acid the mRNA codon is
coding for?
7. Translate the following mRNA sequence:
mRNA
tRNA
AUG UCA AUG UCA AAA GAC CGA AAA GAC CGA UCA AUG AAA UGA
____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
amino
acids
8. Notice you have a chain of amino acids, with each amino acid connected to another by a
________________ bond. For this reason, chains of amino acids are often called
__________________, which is a simple __________________. Once the polypeptide chain is made, it
__________ to make a 3-dimensional ____________. This shape is unique to one specific protein
and gives the protein its _____________.
DID YOU GET IT? CIRCLE and LABEL EACH of the following in the image below:
mRNA
tRNA
ribosome
codon
anticodon
amino acid
LEARNING CHECK
1. Define translation?
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Match the following terms:
______ 2. Translation
A. triplets of tRNA
_____ 3. mRNA
B. brings amino acids to the ribosome
______ 4. tRNA
C. copies DNA code to take it from the nucleus to the ribosome
______ 5. Codons
D. triplets of mRNA
______ 6. Anticodons
E. another name for a protein
______ 7. Polypeptide
F. building blocks of proteins
9. How many nucleotides make up a codon?____
10. The “start” codon is:
11. Each codon codes for an ____________________
12. If the mRNA codon is CGA, the tRNA anticodon that binds with it is:
13. What organelle assists tRNA in translating the mRNA in the cytoplasm?