Translation

and the Structure

and Function of Proteins
 Proteins serve a number of biological
functions.

(a) The light produced by fireflies is the result of a light-producing reaction between luciferin
and ATP catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase. (b) The protein fibroin is the major structural
component of spider webs. (c) Castor beans contain a highly toxic protein called ricin.
All proteins are composed of amino
acids, linked end to end.
Like that of nucleic acids, the molecular structure of proteins has
several levels of organization.
Genetic
Code
 What amino acids are specified
by codons composed of only one
type of base?
• Even though some amino acids have multiple
(isoaccepting) tRNAs, there are still more
codons than anticodons, because different
codons can sometimes pair with the same
anticodon through flexibility in base pairing at
the third position of the codon
Wobble may exist in the pairing of a
codon and anti-codon.
Findings from early studies of the genetic code indicated that the code is
generally nonoverlapping. An overlapping code is one in which a single
nucleotide may be included in more than one codon, as follows:
Amino Acids Are Assembled into
a Protein Through the
Mechanism of Translation
The translation of an mRNA molecule takes place on a ribosome.
The letter N represents the amino end of the protein; C
represents the carboxyl end.
 Protein synthesis can be conveniently divided
into four stages:

• (1) tRNA charging, which entails the binding of amino acids to

the tRNAs;
• (2) initiation, in which the components necessary for
translation are assembled at the ribosome;
• (3) elongation, in which amino acids are joined, one at a time,
to the growing polypeptide chain; and
• (4) termination, in which protein synthesis halts at the
termination codon and the translation components are
released from the ribosome.
 The Binding of Amino Acids to Transfer RNAs
• The first stage of translation is the binding of tRNA molecules to their
appropriate amino acids, called tRNA charging.
• The key to specificity between an amino acid and its tRNA is a set of
enzymes called aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase
 The attachment of a tRNA to its appropriate amino acid, termed
tRNA charging, requires energy, which is supplied by adenosine
triphosphate (ATP):

To identify the resulting aminoacylated tRNA, we write the three-letter

abbreviation for the amino acid in front of the tRNA; for example, the
amino acid alanine (Ala) attaches to its tRNA (tRNAAla), giving rise to its
aminoacyl- tRNA (Ala-tRNAAla).
 The Initiation of Translation
• The second stage in the process of protein
synthesis is initiation. At this stage, all the
components necessary for protein synthesis
assemble:
– (1) mRNA
– (2) the small and large subunits of the ribosome
– (3) a set of three proteins called initiation factors
– (4) initiator tRNA with N-formylmethionine attached (f
Met-tRNAf Met)
– (5) guanosine triphosphate (GTP).
 Initiation comprises three major steps

• First, mRNA binds to the small subunit of the

ribosome
• Second, initiator tRNA binds to the mRNA
through base pairing between the codon and
the anticodon
• Third, the large ribosome joins the initiation
complex
 The initiation of translation
requires several initiation factors
and GTP.
 initiation of translation
• In bacterial cells, sequences in 16S rRNA of the small
subunit of the ribosome bind to the Shine–Dalgarno
sequence in mRNA
 initiation of translation
• the cap at the 5’ end of eukaryotic mRNA plays a critical role in the
initiation of translation.
• The small subunit of the eukaryotic ribosome, with the help of initiation
factors, recognizes the cap and binds there; the small subunit then moves
along (scans) the mRNA until it locates the first AUG codon.
• The identification of the start codon is facilitated by the presence of a
consensus sequence (called the Kozak sequence) that surrounds the start
codon:
The poly(A) tail of eukaryotic mRNA plays a role
in the initiation of translation.
 Elongation
• The next stage in protein synthesis is
elongation, in which amino acids are joined to
create a polypeptide chain.
• Elongation requires
– (1) the 70S
– (2) tRNAs charged with their amino acids
– (3) several elongation factors
– (4) GTP
A ribosome has three sites that can be occupied by tRNAs; the
aminoacyl (A) site, the peptidyl (P) site, and the exit (E) site
The elongation of translation comprises three steps.
The second step of elongation is the formation of a peptide bond
between the amino acids that are attached to tRNAs in the P and
A sites
Translation ends when a stop
codon is encountered.

• E. coli has three release factors—RF1,

RF2, and RF3.
• Release factor 1 binds to the
termination codons UAA and UAG
• RF2 binds to UGA and UAA.
• Release factor 3 forms a complex with
GTP and binds to the ribosome.
Components required for protein
synthesis in bacterial cells
Components required for protein
synthesis in bacterial cells
 A Comparison of Bacterial and
Eukaryotic Translation
• In bacterial cells, AUG encodes a modified type of methionine, N-
formylmethionine, whereas, in eukaryotic cells, AUG encodes
unformylated methionine.
• transcription and translation take place simultaneously in bacterial cells,
but the nuclear envelope may separate these processes in eukaryotic cells.
• mRNA in bacterial cells is short- lived, typically lasting only a few minutes,
but the longevity of mRNA in eukaryotic cells is highly variable and is
frequently hours or days.