Name: _____________________________________________________ Score: ____________

Section: ___________________________________________________ Date: _____________

The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology:

Protein Synthesis & Amino Acid

I. USEFUL TERMS (30 points)

Directions: Define the following words that are useful in studying protein synthesis.

1. DNA
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2. RNA
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3. Hydrogen Bond
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4. Thymine
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5. Backbone
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6. mRNA
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7. tRNA
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8. rRNA
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9. Amino acid
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10. Codon
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11. Anticodon
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12. Transcription
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13. Translation
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14. Polypeptide
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15. Protein
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II. LABELING (20 points)

Directions: Follow the coloring scheme for each diagram below, then label the parts
listed.

Nucleotide Structure
 phosphate group – brown
 five-carbon sugar – orange
 nitrogen(ous) base – purple

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DNA Structure
 sugar-phosphate backbone – brown/orange
 adenine – red
 thymine – green
 cytosine – blue
 guanine – yellow
 hydrogen bond – black

III. TABLE COMPLETION (20 points)

01. Fill in the complimentary DNA strand using DNA base paring rules.
02. Fill in the correct mRNA bases by transcribing the bottom DNA code.
03. Translate the mRNA codons and find the correct amino acid using the Codon Circular
Table.
04. Write in the amino acid and the correct ant-codon, the tRNA molecule.
05. Then answer the questions about protein synthesis below the amino acids.

Complementary Codon Anti-Codon

DNA Amino Acid
DNA mRNA tRNA
A T A U
Methionine
T A U A
(Start Codon)
G C G C
G
T
A
G
C
T
A
A
C
C
T
T
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 IV. DNA CODING (20 points)

Answer the following questions based on the diagram above.

01. Where is mRNA synthesized, transcription or translation?
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02. Does mRNA have codons or anti-codons?
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03. How many codons equal one amino acid, 1 or 3?
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04. Does tRNA bring amino acid to the nucleus or ribosomes?
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05. Is a polypeptide a sequence of proteins or amino acids?
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06. Does tRNA have codons or anti-codons?
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07. Does tRNA transfer amino acids during transcription or translation?
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08. Are ribosomes the site where translations or transcription takes place?
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 V. THE CENTRAL DOGMA OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (60 points)
Directions: Use the diagram of codons to decode the sequence below.

First Step: DNA Replication

OLD STRAND OF DNA
TAC CTC CGG TGG GTG CTT GTC TGT ATC CTT CTC AGT ATC
NEW STRAND OF DNA

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Second Step: TRANSCRIPTION

ONE STRAND OF DNA (ORGINAL STRAND OF DNA)
TAC CTC CGG TGG GTG CTT GTC TGT ATC CTT CTC AGT ATC
mRNA

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Third Step: TRANSLATION BY PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

tRNA

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PROTEIN

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Use your codon chart above to determine the amino acid sequence of each polypeptide below.
Remember to ONLY start on AUG and STOP when you encounter a stop codon. Follow the
example below:

Note: in real life, polypeptides are hundreds or thousands of nucleotides long.

1. DNA _ CCT CTT TAC ACA CGG AGG GTA CGC TAT TCT ATG ATT ACA CGG TTG CGA TCC ATA ATC
mRNA _
protein _

2. DNA _ AGA ACA TAA TAC CTC TTA ACA CTC TAA AGA CCA GCA CTC CGA TGA ACT GGA GCA
mRNA _
protein _

3. DNA _ TAC CTT GGG GAA TAT ACA CGC TGG CTT CGA TGA ATC CGT ACG GTA CTC GCC ATC
mRNA _
protein _

4. DNA _ TAA ACT CGG TAC CTA GCT TAG ATC TAA TTA CCC ATC
mRNA _
protein _

5. DNA _ CTA TTA CGA TAC TAG AGC GAA TAG AAA CTT ATC ATC
mRNA _
protein _
6. DNA _ TAC CTT AGT TAT CCA TTG ACT CGA ATT GTG CGC TTG CTG ATC
mRNA _
protein _

7. DNA _ ACC CGA TAC CTC TCT TAT AGC ATT ACA AAC CTC CGA GCG
mRNA _
protein _

8. DNA _ TAC AGA CGG CAA CTC TGG GTG CTT TGT TCT CTT CTC AGT ATC
mRNA _
protein _

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