THE FLOW OF GENETIC

INFORMATION FROM DNA TO

RNA TO PROTEIN

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 DNA specifies traits by dictating protein synthesis.
 The molecular chain of command is from
– DNA in the nucleus to RNA and
– RNA in the cytoplasm to protein.

 Transcription is the synthesis of RNA under the

direction of DNA.
 Translation is the synthesis of proteins under the
direction of RNA.

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Figure 10.6A_s3

DNA

Transcription

RNA
NUCLEUS

CYTOPLASM
Translation

Protein
 The connections between genes and proteins
– The initial one gene–one enzyme hypothesis was
based on studies of inherited metabolic diseases.
– The one gene–one enzyme hypothesis was expanded
to include all proteins.
– Most recently, the one gene–one polypeptide
hypothesis recognizes that some proteins are
composed of multiple polypeptides.

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 The sequence of nucleotides in DNA provides a
code for constructing a protein.
– Protein construction requires a conversion of a
nucleotide sequence to an amino acid sequence.
– Transcription rewrites the DNA code into RNA, using
the same nucleotide “language.”

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 – The flow of information from gene to protein is based
on a triplet code: the genetic instructions for the
amino acid sequence of a polypeptide chain are written
in DNA and RNA as a series of nonoverlapping three-
base “words” called codons.
– Translation involves switching from the nucleotide
“language” to the amino acid “language.”
– Each amino acid is specified by a codon.
– 64 codons are possible.
– Some amino acids have more than one possible codon.

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Figure 10.7

DNA
molecule

Gene 1

Gene 2

Gene 3

DNA
A A A C C G G C A A A A
Transcription

RNA U U U G G C C G U U U U

Translation Codon

Polypeptide
Amino
acid
 Characteristics of the genetic code
– Three nucleotides specify one amino acid.
– 61 codons correspond to amino acids.
– AUG codes for methionine and signals the start of
transcription.
– 3 “stop” codons signal the end of translation.

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 The genetic code is
– redundant, with more than one codon for some amino
acids,
– unambiguous in that any codon for one amino acid
does not code for any other amino acid,
– nearly universal—the genetic code is shared by
organisms from the simplest bacteria to the most
complex plants and animals, and
– without punctuation in that codons are adjacent to each
other with no gaps in between.

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Figure 10.8A
Second base

Third base
First base
Figure 10.8B_s3
Strand to be transcribed

T A C T T C A A A A T C
DNA
A T G A A G T T T T A G

Transcription

RNA
A U G A A G U U U U A G

Start Stop
Translation codon codon

Polypeptide Met Lys Phe

 Overview of transcription
– An RNA molecule is transcribed from a DNA template
by a process that resembles the synthesis of a DNA
strand during DNA replication.
– RNA nucleotides are linked by the transcription
enzyme RNA polymerase.
– Specific sequences of nucleotides along the DNA mark
where transcription begins and ends.
– The “start transcribing” signal is a nucleotide sequence
called a promoter.

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 – Transcription begins with initiation, as the RNA
polymerase attaches to the promoter.
– During the second phase, elongation, the RNA grows
longer.
– As the RNA peels away, the DNA strands rejoin.
– Finally, in the third phase, termination, the RNA
polymerase reaches a sequence of bases in the DNA
template called a terminator, which signals the end of
the gene.
– The polymerase molecule now detaches from the RNA
molecule and the gene.

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Figure 10.9A

Free RNA
RNA nucleotides
polymerase

C C A A

A U C C A

T A G G T T

Direction of
transcription Template
strand of DNA
Newly made RNA

A close-up view of transcription

Figure 10.9B

RNA polymerase Terminator

DNA
DNA of gene

Promoter
DNA
1 Initiation

The transcription 2 Elongation Area shown

in Figure 10.9A
of a gene

Growing
3 Termination RNA

Completed RNA
RNA polymerase
 Messenger RNA (mRNA)
– encodes amino acid sequences and
– conveys genetic messages from DNA to the translation
machinery of the cell, which in
– prokaryotes, occurs in the same place that mRNA is made,
but in
– eukaryotes, mRNA must exit the nucleus via nuclear pores to
enter the cytoplasm.

– Eukaryotic mRNA has

– introns, interrupting sequences that separate
– exons, the coding regions.

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 Eukaryotic mRNA undergoes processing before
leaving the nucleus.
– RNA splicing removes introns and joins exons to
produce a continuous coding sequence.
– A cap and tail of extra nucleotides are added to the
ends of the mRNA to
– facilitate the export of the mRNA from the nucleus,
– protect the mRNA from attack by cellular enzymes, and
– help ribosomes bind to the mRNA.

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Figure 10.10

Exon Intron Exon Intron Exon

DNA
Cap Transcription
Addition of cap and tail
RNA
transcript
with cap Introns removed Tail
and tail

Exons spliced together

mRNA

Coding sequence
NUCLEUS

CYTOPLASM

The production of eukaryotic mRNA

 Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules function as a
language interpreter,
– converting the genetic message of mRNA
– into the language of proteins.

 Transfer RNA molecules perform this interpreter

task by
– picking up the appropriate amino acid and
– using a special triplet of bases, called an anticodon, to
recognize the appropriate codons in the mRNA.

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Figure 10.11A
Amino acid
attachment site

Hydrogen bond

RNA polynucleotide
chain

Anticodon
A tRNA molecule, showing
its polynucleotide strand A simplified
and hydrogen bonding schematic of a tRNA
 Translation occurs on the surface of the ribosome.
– Ribosomes coordinate the functioning of mRNA and
tRNA and, ultimately, the synthesis of polypeptides.
– Ribosomes have two subunits: small and large.
– Each subunit is composed of ribosomal RNAs and
proteins.
– Ribosomal subunits come together during translation.
– Ribosomes have binding sites for mRNA and tRNAs.

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Figure 10.12A

Growing
polypeptide

tRNA
molecules

Large
subunit

Small
subunit

mRNA

The true shape of a functioning ribosome

Figure 10.12B

tRNA binding sites

Large P A
subunit site site

Small
subunit

mRNA binding site

A ribosome with empty binding sites

Figure 10.12C

The next amino

Growing acid to be added
polypeptide to the polypeptide

mRNA
tRNA

Codons

A ribosome with occupied binding sites

 Translation can be divided into the same three
phases as transcription:
1. initiation,
2. elongation, and
3. termination.
 Initiation brings together
– mRNA,
– a tRNA bearing the first amino acid, and
– the two subunits of a ribosome.

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 Initiation establishes where translation will begin.
 Initiation occurs in two steps.
1. An mRNA molecule binds to a small ribosomal subunit and
the first tRNA binds to mRNA at the start codon.
– The start codon reads AUG and codes for methionine.
– The first tRNA has the anticodon UAC.

2. A large ribosomal subunit joins the small subunit, allowing

the ribosome to function.
– The first tRNA occupies the P site, which will hold the growing
peptide chain.
– The A site is available to receive the next tRNA.

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Figure 10.13A

Start of genetic message

Cap

End

Tail

A molecule of eukaryotic mRNA

Figure 10.13B

Initiator Large
tRNA ribosomal
subunit
mRNA P A
site site
U A C U A C
A U G A U G

Start codon
Small
1 ribosomal 2

subunit

The initiation of translation

 Once initiation is complete, amino acids are
added one by one to the first amino acid.
 Elongation is the addition of amino acids to the
polypeptide chain.

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 Each cycle of elongation has three steps.
1. Codon recognition: The anticodon of an incoming
tRNA molecule, carrying its amino acid, pairs with the
mRNA codon in the A site of the ribosome.
2. Peptide bond formation: The new amino acid is
joined to the chain.
3. Translocation: tRNA is released from the P site and
the ribosome moves tRNA from the A site into the P
site.

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 Elongation continues until the termination stage of
translation, when
– the ribosome reaches a stop codon,
– the completed polypeptide is freed from the last tRNA,
and
– the ribosome splits back into its separate subunits.

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Figure 10.14_s4

Polypeptide Amino
P A acid
site site

mRNA Anticodon
Codons
1 Codon recognition

mRNA
movement

Stop
codon

2 Peptide bond
formation
New
peptide
bond

3 Translocation
 Transcription is the synthesis of RNA from a DNA
template. In eukaryotic cells,
– transcription occurs in the nucleus and
– the mRNA must travel from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.

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 Translation can be divided into four steps, all of
which occur in the cytoplasm:
1. amino acid attachment,
2. initiation of polypeptide synthesis,
3. elongation, and
4. termination.

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Figure 10.15
Transcription
DNA

mRNA 1 Transcription
RNA
polymerase

Translation CYTOPLASM

Amino acid
2 Amino acid
attachment Enzyme

tRNA
ATP

Anticodon
Initiator
tRNA Large 3 Initiation of
A summary of ribosomal
subunit polypeptide synthesis

transcription mRNA
Start Codon Small
ribosomal
subunit
and translation
New peptide
Growing
bond forming
polypeptide

4 Elongation

Codons
mRNA

Polypeptide

5 Termination

Stop codon
 A mutation is any change in the nucleotide
sequence of DNA.
 Mutations can involve
– large chromosomal regions or
– just a single nucleotide pair.

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 Mutations within a gene can be divided into two
general categories.
1. Base substitutions involve the replacement of one
nucleotide with another. Base substitutions may
– have no effect at all, producing a silent mutation,
– change the amino acid coding, producing a missense
mutation, which produces a different amino acid,
– lead to a base substitution that produces an improved protein
that enhances the success of the mutant organism and its
descendant, or
– change an amino acid into a stop codon, producing a
nonsense mutation.

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 2. Mutations can result in deletions or insertions that may
– alter the reading frame (triplet grouping) of the mRNA, so that
nucleotides are grouped into different codons,
– lead to significant changes in amino acid sequence
downstream of the mutation, and
– produce a nonfunctional polypeptide.

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 Mutagenesis is the production of mutations.
 Mutations can be caused by
– spontaneous errors that occur during DNA replication
or recombination or
– mutagens, which include
– high-energy radiation such as X-rays and
ultraviolet light and
– chemicals.

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Figure 10.16A

Normal hemoglobin DNA Mutant hemoglobin DNA

C T T C A T

mRNA mRNA
G A A G U A

Normal hemoglobin Sickle-cell hemoglobin

Glu Val

The molecular basis of sickle-cell disease

Figure 10.16B
Normal
gene A U G A A G U U U G G C G C A
mRNA
Protein Met Lys Phe Gly Ala

Nucleotide A U G A A G U U U A G C G C A
substitution
Met Lys Phe Ser Ala

U Deleted

Nucleotide A U G A A G U U G G C G C A U
deletion
Met Lys Leu Ala His
Inserted

Nucleotide A U G A A G U U G U G G C G C
insertion
Met Lys Leu Ala His