BIO121 Tutorial

07.07.2021
A deletion mutation occurs, leaving 11 bases in
nucleotide sequence. What is the maximum number of
amino acids that could be coded for by this sequence?
Codon: Each amino acid is coded by 3 consecutive bases

ORF 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

ORF 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

ORF 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Maximum 9 different aa
How are prokaryotes able to begin the process of
translation even before the mRNA has been
completely transcribed?
 Difference between Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
• Prokaryotes don’t have membrane bound compartments like
eukaryotes.
• Prokaryotes doesn’t have nucleus like eukaryotes.

Transcription happens inside nucleus and Translation happens in

cytosol of eukaryotic cells

For prokaryotes both of the process happen in cytosol. Transcription and

translation machinery is available at the same time
What must happen to a newly made polypeptide
before it can be secreted from a cell?
Protein folding is required for its functioning

• Protein folding is done inside ER

• If modification is required it goes from ER to Golgi

Folding Modification of protein

Translation ER Golgi

Plasma membrane
What is the function of the poly-A tail in mRNA?
• Helps to identify properly translated mature mRNA and helps in
export from nucleus to cytosol.
• Increases mRNA stability in cytosol.
• Helps in translation
A certain gene codes for a polypeptide that is 120 amino acids long.
Approximately how many nucleotides long is the mRNA that codes for this
polypeptide likely to be?
Codon: Each amino acid is coded by 3 consecutive bases

• 120*3= 360 bases

• One stop codon
• Total bases required = 363
6. The genetic code is a triplet code, with four bases
taken three at a time, giving 64 combinations, enough
for 21 amino acids and then some. If it were a duplex
code, how many amino acids could be coded for?
If a codon were two nucleotides, the set of all combinations could
encode only
 
4x4 = 16 combinations
7. What do you think is the significance
of degeneracy in the genetic code?
The term 'degenerate' refers to the phenomenon of having more than one
codon for the same amino acid. Four bases taken three at a time provides
64 combinations of codons for only 20 amino acids, but most amino acids
have more than one possible codon. Having more than one codon for the
same amino acid may help protect against point mutations, allowing a
change of one base without changing the amino acid specified.
A synonymous mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that codes for
amino acids in a protein sequence, but does not change the encoded
amino acid. Due to the redundancy of the genetic code (multiple codons
code for the same amino acid), these changes usually occur in the third
position of a codon. For example, GGT, GGA, GGC, and GGG all code for
glycine. Any change in the third position of the codon (e.g. A->G), will
result in the same amino acid being incorporated in the protein sequence
at that position.
https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190209896/student/chapter19/quiz1/
https://genomevolution.org/wiki/index.php/Synonymous_mutation
8. Protein synthesis is more rapid in organisms in which mRNA
has a shorter half life. Protein synthesis in humans is much
slower than that in E. coli. Why would it matter to either
organism whether protein synthesis were rapid or slow?
Bacteria may need to respond rapidly to changes in their environments,
so must synthesize protein more rapidly.
For eg, a bacterium may find itself suddenly thrust from the warm
confines of a buffalo gut into the middle of a desert and may have to
adapt rapidly to changing food supplies or environmental conditions.

https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190209896/student/chapter19/quiz1/
9. During protein synthesis in prokaryotes, the first amino
acid placed in the chain is usually N-formylmethionine.
Why do you think it is used instead of plain methionine?
N-formylmethionine placed at the beginning of the growing peptide
chain may protect the growing chain from degradative nucleases during
translation.
10. A geneticist isolates a gene for a specific trait under study.
She also isolates the corresponding mRNA. Upon comparison,
the mRNA is found to contain 1,000 fewer bases than the
DNA sequence. Did the geneticist isolate the wrong DNA?
The final mRNA contains only exons, the introns were removed during
splicing. This accounts for the shorter length of the mRNA when compared
to the DNA.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-biology1/chapter/reading-post-translational-control-of-gene-expression/