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3.7 and 3.8 The Stages of Protein Synthesis - Coggle Diagram
3.7 and 3.8 The Stages of Protein Synthesis
Amino Acids
It is the different types and order of amino acids that determine which type of protein it is
Often these proteins are enzymes, which need to have a very specific shape
The amino acids are joined together and fold to make a protein
Each group of three bases (e.g ACT, AGG, GAC) codes for an amino acid
Therefore it is the order of bases in DNA that determine which proteins are produced
Non-coding DNA
There are also non-coding parts of DNA that do not code for proteins
Some of them are responsible for switching genes on or off, i.e. controlling whether the gene is used to form a protein or not
Protein Synthesis
The process of producing a protein from DNA
If a gene is coded to make a protein, it has been expressed
The mRNA then moves out of the nucleus to the cytoplasm and onto structures called ribosomes
At the ribosomes, the bases on the mRNA are read in threes (triplets) to code for an amino acid (the first three bases code for one amino acid, the second three bases code for another etc)
The two strands of DNA pull apart from each other, and RNA polymerase allows mRNA nucleotides (messenger RNA: a different type of nucleotide) to match to their complementary base on the strand
The corresponding amino acids are brought to the ribosomes by carrier molecules called tRNAs - transport RNAs
An enzyme called RNA polymerase binds to non-coding DNA located in front of a gene on the DNA strand
These amino acids connect together to form a polypeptide (amino acids linked by peptide bonds)
The mRNA nucleotides themselves are then joined together, creating a new strand called the mRNA strand. This is a template of the original DNA
When the chain is complete the protein folds to form a unique 3D structure, which is the final protein
DNA contains the genetic code for making a protein, but it cannot move out of the nucleus as it is too big