Biology The Unity and Diversity of Life

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 9
From DNA to Protein

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 9.1 Ricin, RIP (1 of 4)

• A tiny amount of ricin, a natural protein found in castor-

oil seeds, can kill an adult human—there is no antidote
• Ricin is a ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP)
– Inactivates the organelles which assemble amino acids
into proteins
• Other RIPs include Shiga toxin, made by Shigella
dysenteriae bacteria, and Shiga-like toxin made by E.
coli bacteria

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9.1 Ricin, RIP (2 of 4)

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9.1 Ricin, RIP (3 of 4)

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 9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(1 of 8)
• Gene expression: conversion of the information to the
gene’s product
– Transcription converts information in a gene to RNA
DNA → transcription → mRNA
– Translation converts information in an mRNA to protein
mRNA → translation → protein

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9.1 Ricin, RIP (4 of 4)

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 9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(2 of 8)
• Each DNA strand consists of a chain of the four
nucleotides: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and
cytosine (C)
• The sequence of the bases in the strand is the genetic
code
• All of a cell’s RNA and protein products are encoded by
DNA sequences called genes

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 9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(3 of 8)
• DNA is transcribed to RNA
– Enzymes synthesize a complementary strand of RNA
from the DNA template
• DNA versus RNA
– Most RNA is single-stranded
– RNA uses ribose instead of deoxyribose as
its sugar
– RNA uses uracil instead of thymine

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9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(4 of 8)

TABLE 9.1

Comparing DNA and RNA

DNA RNA
Form double helix most are single-stranded
Monomers deoxyribonucleotides ribonucleotides
Sugar deoxyribose ribose
adenine, guanine, adenine, guanine, cytosine,
Bases cytosine, thymine uracil
Base pairing A–T, G–C A–U, G–C
stores genetic protein synthesis, other roles
Function information depending on type

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9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(5 of 8)

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 9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(6 of 8)
• Messenger RNA (mRNA)
– Contains the information transcribed from DNA
• Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
– Main component of ribosomes, which build polypeptide
chains
• Transfer RNA (tRNA)
– Delivers amino acids to ribosomes

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 9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(7 of 8)
• mRNA is translated to protein
– rRNA and tRNA translate the sequence of base triplets
in mRNA into a sequence of amino acids
• Translation
– Information carried by mRNA is decoded into a
sequence of amino acids
– Results in a polypeptide chain that folds into a protein

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 9.2 DNA, RNA, and Gene Expression
(8 of 8)
• The DNA sequence (genes) contains all the information
needed to make the molecules of life
• Gene expression is a multistep process
– Includes transcription and then translation
– Genetic information from the genes is converted into a
structural or functional part of a cell or an organism

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 9.3 Transcription: DNA to RNA (1 of 7)

• RNA polymerase assembles RNA by linking RNA

nucleotides into a chain, in the order dictated by the
base sequence of a gene
– A new RNA strand is complementary in sequence to the
DNA strand from which it was transcribed
• DNA replication and transcription both synthesize new
molecules by base pairing
– Uracil (U) pairs with adenine (A)
– RNA polymerase adds nucleotides to transcript

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 9.3 Transcription: DNA to RNA (2 of 7)
• Base pairing in DNA replication and RNA transcription:

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 9.3 Transcription: DNA to RNA (3 of 7)

• RNA polymerase and regulatory proteins attach to a

promoter (a specific binding site in DNA close to the
start of a gene)
• RNA polymerase
– Moves over the gene in a 5 to 3 direction
– Unwinds the DNA helix
– Reads the base sequence
– Joins free RNA nucleotides into a complementary strand
of mRNA

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9.3 Transcription: DNA to RNA (4 of 7)

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9.3 Transcription: DNA to RNA (5 of 7)

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 9.3 Transcription: DNA to RNA (6 of 7)
• Post-transcriptional modifications:
– RNA is modified before it leaves the nucleus as mature mRNA
– Introns are nucleotide sequences that are removed from new
RNA strands
– Exons are sequences that stay in RNA
• Alternative splicing allows one gene to encode multiple
proteins
– Some exons removed from RNA
– Other exons spliced together in various combination
• After splicing, final transcripts are finished
– Modified guanine “cap” at the 5 end
– Poly-A tail at the 3 end

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9.3 Transcription: DNA to RNA (7 of 7)

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 9.4 RNA and the Genetic Code (1 of 7)

• mRNA carries the information for building proteins to

ribosomes and tRNA for translation
• Protein building information is carried in codons
– Sequence of three mRNA nucleotides
– Codes for a specific amino acid
– Order of codons in mRNA dictates the order of amino
acids in the polypeptide chain

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 9.4 RNA and the Genetic Code (2 of 7)

• There are 64 codons possible in making up the genetic

code
– 20 kinds of amino acids found in proteins
– Some amino acids coded by more than
one codon
– Some codons signal the start or end of genes
 AUG (methionine) is the start codon
 UAA, UAG, and UGA are stop codons

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9.4 RNA and the Genetic Code (3 of 7)

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9.4 RNA and the Genetic Code (4 of 7)

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 9.4 RNA and the Genetic Code (5 of 7)

• Types of RNA:
• tRNAs deliver amino acids to ribosomes
– Contains an anticodon complementary to an mRNA
codon
– Contains a binding site for the amino acid coded by the
codon
• rRNA and proteins make up ribosomes
– Link amino acids into polypeptide chains
– Two rRNA subunits and proteins make up each
ribosome

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9.4 RNA and the Genetic Code (6 of 7)

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9.4 RNA and the Genetic Code (7 of 7)

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 9.5 Translation: RNA to Protein (1 of 6)

• Translation converts genetic information from mRNA

into a new polypeptide chain
– Amino acid order is determined by codon order
– Occurs in the cytoplasm
– Occurs in three stages
 Initiation
 Elongation
 Termination

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 9.5 Translation: RNA to Protein (2 of 6)

• Initiation:
– Initiation complex forms
 A small ribosomal subunit binds to mRNA
 The anticodon of initiator tRNA base pairs with the start
(AUG) codon of mRNA
 A large ribosomal subunit joins the small ribosomal
subunit

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 9.5 Translation: RNA to Protein (3 of 6)

• Elongation:
– The ribosome assembles a polypeptide chain as it
moves along the mRNA
 Initiator tRNA carries methionine, the first amino acid of
the chain
 The ribosome joins each amino acid to the polypeptide
chain with a peptide bond

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 9.5 Translation: RNA to Protein (4 of 6)

• Termination:
– When the ribosome encounters a stop codon,
polypeptide synthesis ends
 Release factors bind to the ribosome
 Enzymes detach the mRNA and polypeptide chain from
the ribosome

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9.5 Translation: RNA to Protein (5 of 6)

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9.5 Translation: RNA to Protein (6 of 6)

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 9.6 Consequences of Mutations (1 of 4)

• If the nucleotide sequence of a gene changes, it may

result in an altered gene product
• Mutations
– Small-scale changes in the nucleotide sequence of a
cell’s DNA that alter the genetic code
– Relatively uncommon events in normal cells
– Less than 2% of human DNA encodes gene products, so
any given mutation has a low probability of affecting
them.
– Some mutations do not affect gene products because of
codon redundancy; for example, GUA and GUG both
code for valine

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 9.6 Consequences of Mutations (2 of 4)

• Some mutations can have severe consequences for

the organism
– May change an amino acid in a protein
– Base-pair substitution
 May result in a premature stop codon or a different amino
acid in a protein product
 Example: sickle-cell anemia
– Deletion or insertion
 Can cause the reading frame of mRNA codons to shift,
changing the genetic message
 Example: thalassemia

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9.6 Consequences of Mutations (3 of 4)

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9.6 Consequences of Mutations (4 of 4)

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