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Lecture 2 - Gene Structure - Genetic Code

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26 views20 pages

Lecture 2 - Gene Structure - Genetic Code

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Navneet Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Topic #2: Gene structure and Genetic Code

Lecture plan
1. What is a gene?
2. What are genes made of?
3. What are the 3 parts of a gene?
4. What is promoter and terminator sequence?
5. What is the coding section of a gene?
6. What are Exons and Introns? The difference between Exons and Introns.
7. What is the genetic code? Properties of Genetic Code.
8. How many codons are present in genetic code?
9. What does the start and Stop codon do?
10. Why does synthesis stop with the stop codon?
11. What is the relationship between codons and protein?
12. How do you read genetic codes?
What is a gene?
 A gene is a small section of DNA that contains the
instructions for a specific molecule, usually a protein.
 The purpose of genes is to store information.
What are genes made of?
Genes are made up of DNA. A gene consists of a long combination of four different
nucleotide bases.
 A (adenine)
 C (cytosine)
 G (guanine)
 T (thymine)

There are many possible combinations. Different combinations of the letters ACGT give
people different characteristics.
For example, a person with the combination ATCGTT may have blue eyes, while somebody
with the combination ATCGCT may have brown eyes.
For example, a person with the combination CGTTAT may have curly hair, while somebody
with the combination CTACGT may have straight hair .
What are the 3 parts of a gene?

Genes have three regions, the promoter, coding region, and


termination sequence.
What is promoter and terminator sequence?

A promoter is a region of DNA where RNA A terminator is a sequence of DNA that


polymerase binds to initiate transcription. causes RNA polymerase to terminate
The promoter tells the polymerase where transcription. ... Terminators are genetic
to "sit down" parts that usually occur at the end of a
on the DNA and begin transcribing. gene.
What is the coding section of a gene?
The coding region of a gene is the part of the gene that will be eventually transcribed
and translated into protein.
The coding region of a gene contain: EXONS AND INTRONS
EXONS are Coding regions.
INTRONS Are Non-coding regions. An intron is a part of the gene sequence that
is not used to carry genetic information. An intron does not code for a protein.
Gene components: Exons and Introns
Each gene is divided into several exons, separated by non coding sequences.
•An intron is a part of the gene sequence that is not used to carry genetic
information. It does not code for a protein.
•An exon is the portion of a gene that codes for amino acids.
What are Exons?

Definition: Exons are protein-


coding DNA sequences.
Function: The exons are
transcribed into mature mRNA
after post-transcriptional
modification.
Exons are highly conserved
sequences, i.e., they do not
change frequently with time.
What are Introns?

Definition:
Introns are intervening
sequences between two exons.
They do not code for proteins.
Introns are removed before the
mRNA forms proteins.
Introns are non-coding DNA
sequences within a gene that
are removed by RNA splicing.
Why are introns cut out?
1. Introns not carry information
to build a protein, they
actually have to be removed
in order for the mRNA to
encode a protein with the
right sequence.
2. If the spliceosome fails to
remove an intron, an mRNA
with extra "junk" in it will be
made, and a wrong protein
will get produced during
translation.
What is Genetic code?
What is a codon?
How many codons are present in genetic code?
What is Genetic code?

The full set of relationships between codons and amino acids is


called the genetic code.
What is a codon?
A codon is a trinucleotide sequence of DNA or RNA that
corresponds to a specific amino acid. The genetic code describes
the relationship between the sequence of DNA bases (A, C, G,
and T) in a gene and the corresponding protein sequence that it
encodes.
How many codons are present in genetic code?

 There are 64 different codons in


the genetic code.
 The 3 triplets UAA, UAG, UGA do
not code for any amino acid (also
called stop codons or nonsense
codons).
 Stop codons do not code for an
amino acid.
 AUG is the codon for methionine,
and is also the start codon.
How do 64 different codons produce 20 different amino acids?

Genetic code can be expressed in a simple


table with 64 entries.
The letters A,G,T and C correspond to the
nucleotides found in DNA. They are
organized into codon. The collection of
codons is called Genetics code. Each codon
consists of three bases (triplet).
• There are 64 codons.
• 61 codons code for 20 amino acids found
in protein.
• 3 codons do not code for any amino acid.
What is the function of a start and stop codon?
There are two punctuation
marks in the genetic code
called the START and STOP
codons. The start codon
marks the site at which
translation into protein
sequence begins, and the
stop codon marks the site at
which translation ends.
What does the start codon do?

The start codon (AUG) is


the first codon of a
messenger RNA (mRNA)
transcript translated by a
ribosome.
The start codon
always codes for
methionine in eukaryotes.
What is the function of a stop codon?

A stop codon is a
trinucleotide sequence
within a messenger RNA
(mRNA) molecule
that signals a halt to
protein synthesis.
Why does synthesis stop with the stop codon?
Termination.
 After a polypeptide with all the amino
acids for a protein is synthesized, the
ribosome reaches the “STOP’’ codon:
UGA, UAA or UAG.
 There is no tRNA with an anticodon for
the reaches the “STOP’’ codons.
 Therefore, protein synthesis ends.
 The polypeptide is released from the
ribosome and is ready to function as an
active protein.
Why does synthesis stop with the stop codon?

During protein synthesis,


STOP codons cause the
release of the new
polypeptide chain from
the ribosome. This occurs
because there are no tRNAs
with anticodons
complementary to the STOP
codons.

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