Replication,

Transcription and
Translation

Warm Up: Base Pairing

1.

A C C T GA
2.

G C

T
G

A
AG

What is the DNA

backbone made of?

Phosphate
and
Sugar

DNA Replication
Nucleotide
Hydrogen
bonds

Sugar-phosphate
backbone
Key
Adenine (A)
Thymine (T)
Cytosine (C)
Guanine (G)

What is DNA replication?

Making a copy of DNA
Why is DNA replication
important for cells and
multicellular organisms?

Replication allows cells to

divide
Forming cells that are
genetically identical to the

When does DNA Replication

occur?

After the cell grows

big enough to divide,
during interphase, the
S phase

DNA Replication
New strand

Original
strand

DNA
polymerase

Growth
DNA
polymerase

Growth

Replication
fork

Replication
fork

New strand

Original
strand

Nitrogenous
bases

Important Enzyme #1
Helicase
Unwinds DNA at the
replication fork.

Important Enzyme #2
DNA Polymerase
Principal enzyme in DNA
replication; adds
nucleotides to growing
strand of DNA and
proofreads new strand of
DNA

Steps in DNA Replication

1. Helicase enzyme breaks the hydrogen bonds between base pairs. This
unzips the double helix at a position called the replication fork.
2. There is an abundant supply of nucleotides in the nucleus for the
formation of the new polynucleotides.
3. Nucleotides base pair to the bases in the original strands with hydrogen
bonds.
4. DNA polymerase joins together the nucleotides together with strong
covalent bonds to form a new complementary polynucleotide strand.
5. The double strand reforms a double helix.
6. Two copies of the DNA molecule form behind the replication fork. These
are the new daughter chromosomes.

Drawings of the steps in DNA

Replication
DNA
Polymerase
Helicase

Some Important DNA Facts

A strand of DNA
has 2 ends, the 5
(5-prime) and 3
(3-prime) ends.

DNA is ALWAYS
copied from 5 to
3

Some Important DNA Facts

There are multiple bubbles of DNA

replicated at the same time

What is semi-conservative
replication?

In the new DNA created, one

strand is from the original, and
one is a new one.
Semi = part of
Conserve = save

Why is semi-conservative important?

The DNA is copied EXACTLY

generation to generation

RNA
Where is DNA stored?
Nucleus
______________________
What organelle makes
Ribosomes
proteins?
______________________
Where
Cytoplasm
are proteins
made?
______________________

How does RNA solve this

problem?
RNA is a disposable copy
of DNA that can leave the
nucleus

B. RNAs structure is very similar to

the structure of DNA except for 3
major differences:
1.

RNA has ribose sugar

instead of deoxyribose
Nitrogen Base

2. RNA is single-stranded

3. RNA has uracil (U) instead

of thymine (T)
DNA: AGTCCTTTAGT
RNA: AGUCCUUUAGU

There are three main types of RNA:

1. Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)

rRNA is found in
ribosomes, and
creates the active
site for protein
formation

2. Transfer RNA
(tRNA)
tRNA contains the
anticodon,(region of a
transfer RNA is a sequence
of three bases that are
complementary to a codon in
the messenger RNA). and
brings amino acids to create
proteins

3. Messenger RNA (mRNA)

mRNA provides
the template for
making proteins

III. Transcription
A.

Transcription: Producing RNA by

copying part of the DNAs nucleotide
sequence Adenine (DNA and RNA)
Cystosine (DNA and RNA)
Guanine(DNA and RNA)
Thymine (DNA only)
Uracil (RNA only)

RNA
polymerase
RNA

DNA

B.

Describe the process of transcription

using drawings.
1. RNA Polymerase
rips open the DNA
double helix
2. RNA polymerase
grabs bases and lines
them up with the
original DNA strand
3. Half of the DNA is
copied into a strand
of mRNA, then the
DNA strand closes,
hydrogen bonds
reform

Transcription

C. How does RNA

polymerase know where
to start?
Starts when it
finds a
promoter
(specific base
sequence)
Found near the
beginning of
a gene

D. Describe the process of

RNA editing

RNA editing is a process that

occurs in the nucleus.
It removes introns
intervening sequences and
leaves mRNA with only the
exons expressed
sequences.
After editing a cap and tail
are attached and the mRNA is

IV. Translation
Proteins are long chains of amino acids.

A.

Codon: 3 consecutive
nucleotides that code for a
specific amino acid.
What is the universal start
codon:

B.

AUG

What are the three stop codons?

UGA, UAA, UAG

The Genetic Code

The Genetic Code

C. Use the genetic code below to

translate the following mRNA
sequences:
mRNA:
AUGUAUCGGGCAUUUUAA
1.

mRNA:
UCCAUGGAAGUGAUUCCAUAA
2.

mRNA:
CCAUGUGUCCCCAAUGAAAA
3.

C. Use the genetic code below to

translate the following mRNA
sequences:
1.
mRNA:
AUGUAUCGGGCAUUUUAA
Methionine (START), Tyrosine, Arginine, Alanine, Phenylaline, STOP.

mRNA:
UCCAUGGAAGUGAUUCCAUA
Serine, Methionine,
Glutamic Acid, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, STOP
A
2.

mRNA:
C C ACysteine,
U G Proline,
UGU
CCC
C Lysine
AAUGAAAA
Methionine,
Glutamine,
STOP,
3.

D. Translation:
The
decoding
of RNA into
a
polypeptid
e chain
(protein)

The Central
Dogma of Biology
is:
DNA RNA
protein

E.

Where does the first

step take place?
Nucleus
Where does the

F. What is the job of tRNA during translation?

Bringing amino acids to the ribosomes and
match them up with the correct base on
mRNA.
What is an anticodon? The three bases on a
tRNA that match with the mRNA codons.
G. What is the role of the ribosome during
translation? It is the site of protein
assembly

H. 1) mRNA is transcribed in the

nucleus then travels to the cytoplasm
Cytoplasm
Nucleus

mRNA

2) Ribosome grabs mRNA. tRNA brings

amino acids to the ribosome

Phenylalanine

Lysine (amino acid)

tRNA

Methionine

Ribosome

Start codon

mRNA

Cytoplasm

3) tRNA matches with complimentary

mRNA.
Ribosome makes peptide bond
between amino acids, and breaks the
bond between tRNA and amino acid.
Peptide bond

mRNA

Ribosome

Lysine

tRNA

Translation direction

4) Peptide chain continues to grow

until ribosome reaches a stop codon
Protein is complete.
Growing polypeptide chain
Ribosome
tRNA

mRNA

Stop codon