A2 Edexcel Biology Session 4 6 Genetic C

Session 4.
Unit 4: Development, Plants and the Environment

Topic 6: Infections, immunity and forensics
The genetic code

The need for a genetic code
The genetic code
Deciphering the genetic code
Characteristics of the genetic code
A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Session 4.6

The genetic code

The genetic code

Proteins are the actors of cells
Each amino acid in the protein: 20 choices
Protein of 100 aa = 20100 different possibilities

= 1.27 e+130
Huge variety of proteins
Information for primary structure of proteins is contained in genes
Genes made of DNA
Transcription
mRNA
Translation
Protein
An overview of gene expression

Only in DNA The need for a genetic code
Only in RNA
Nucleotides
Pentose sugar + Nitrogen base + Phosphate Group
Nucleic Acids
Polymers of Nucleotides = Polynucleotides
Deoxyribonucleic acid Ribonucleic acid

DNA RNA
Deoxyribose Ribose
Phosphate Group Phosphate Group
Nitrogen base Nitrogen base
(A, C, G, or T) (A, C, G, or U)
One DNA strand

Sugar-phosphate backbone
“single-stranded DNA” ssDNA
5’ end
Thymine (T)
“Double helix” two strands of DNA
“double-stranded DNA” dsDNA
Adenine (A)
Cytosine (C)
Guanine (G)
3’ end
Phosphate Deoxyribose Nitrogen bases

The two strands of DNA are antiparallel (opposite directions)
5’ end 3’ end
Hydrogen bond
1 nm
3.4 nm
0.34 nm3’ end
5’ end

Only in RNA
One RNA strand “single-stranded RNA”

Sugar-phosphate backbone
5’ end
Uracil (U)
mRNA = Messenger RNA

OH
Used as a template for protein synthesis
Adenine (A)
OH tRNA = Transfer RNA
Used for protein synthesis
Brings amino acids
Cytosine (C)
OH
rRNA = Ribosomal RNA
Part of Ribosomes
Guanine (G)
OH
3’ end
Phosphate Deoxyribose Nitrogen bases

Only in RNA
One strand Two strands
AC G U AC G T
Complementarity
Shorter
Long
100-2000 bases
Millions of base pairs

There are many types of RNAs
tRNAs = transfer RNA

rRNAs = Ribosomal RNA
mRNAs = Messenger RNA
etc…
ONLY mRNA are used in translation

rRNAs = ribosomal RNAs are parts of ribosomes
tRNA = transfer RNAs bring amino acid to the ribosome to elongate a protein being made

Why the word “Translation” ?
From one language to another
From “mRNA language” to “protein language”
Goal of translation ?
Use the information in mRNA to make protein
=
Translate the sequence in mRNA to know the sequence of protein
that has to be made

mRNA language is composed of FOUR letters

ACGU
= Nucleotides
Protein language is composed of 20 “letters”

ARNDCQEGHILKMFPSTWYW
= Amino acids
alanine - ala - A arginine - arg – R asparagine - asn - N

Three ways to aspartic acid - asp - D cysteine - cys - C glutamine - gln - Q
write amino glutamic acid - glu - E glycine - gly - G histidine - his - H
acids isoleucine - ile - I leucine - leu - L lysine - lys - K
methionine - met - M phenylalanine - phe - F proline - pro - P
serine - ser - S threonine - thr - T tryptophan - trp - W
tyrosine - tyr - Y valine - val - V

How to know which amino acid is needed?

Out of 20 possibilities
When we can only use nucleotides

Out of only 4 nucleotides ???
We need a CODE
The Genetic code

Session 4.6

The genetic code

The genetic code

The genetic code
Four different bases are used to be translated into a combination of 20 different amino acids
A C G U
One base Not enough
41 = Four combinations
AA AC AG AU
Combinations of CA CC CG CU
two bases GA GC GG GU Not enough
UA UC UG UU
42 = 16 combinations
AAA AAC AAG AAU

Combinations of ACA ACC ACG ACU Enough
three bases .......
UUA UUC UUG UUU + EXTRA
AAAA AAAC AAAG AAAU

Combinations of AACA AACC AACG AACU Enough
four bases .....
UUUA UUUC UUUG UUUU + EXTRA
44 = 256combinations
The genetic code
Four different bases are used to be translated into a combination of 20 different amino acids
A C G U
One base Not enough
41 = Four combinations
AA AC AG AU
Combinations of CA CC CG CU
two bases “Chosen” GA GC GG GU Not enough
UAenough
- More than UC UG UU
- Using 4 bases would be a waste of space
AAA AAC AAG AAU
Combinations of ACA ACC ACG ACU Enough
three bases .......
UUA UUC UUG UUU + EXTRA
AAAA AAAC AAAG AAAU

Combinations of AACA AACC AACG AACU Enough
four bases .....
UUUA UUUC UUUG UUUU + EXTRA
44 = 256combinations
The genetic code
Triplet = codon

The genetic code

The genetic code
DNA codons
mRNA codons Coding strand = Sense strand = non-template strand
U is replaced by T A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

The genetic code

The genetic code
The 20 amino acids found in proteins

Session 4.6

The genetic code

The genetic code

Synthetic RNA Templates and In Vitro Translation 1/2

 Synthesis of homopolymeric RNA
- Only A: AAAAAAAAAAA…
- Only C: CCCCCCCCCCCC…
- Only G: GGGGGGGGGGGG…
- Only U: UUUUUUUUUUU…
 Use these homopolymeric RNA as templates for translation, individually
 Sequencing the polypeptides obtained

- AAAAAAAAAAAA… gives polypeptides only made of Lysine
- CCCCCCCCCCCC… gives polypeptides only made of Proline
- GGGGGGGGGGGG… gives polypeptides only made of Glycine
- UUUUUUUUUUUU… gives polypeptides only made of Phenylalanine
Codon AAA codes for the amino acid Lysine

Codon CCC codes for the amino acid Proline
Codon GGG codes for the amino acid Glycine
Codon UUU codes for the amino acid Phenylalanine

Synthetic RNA Templates and In Vitro Translation 2/2
 Synthesis of RNA templates with other combinations of bases = codons
Deciphering of the whole genetic code
61 codons code for amino acids

3 codons do not code for any amino acids, but end translation

Session 4.6

The genetic code

The genetic code

The genetic code
1. Is degenerate
2. Contains “punctuation codons”
3. Is non-overlapping
4. Is more-or-less universal

1. The genetic code is degenerate
The genetic code requires at least 20 codons minimum
 It contains 64 codons
Contains more information than required
 While Methionine and Tryptophane are encoded by single codons

All other amino acids are encoded by more than one codon
 “Degeneracy” = the third base of the codon looks less important than
the first and second bases
e.g. Phenylalanine encoded by UUU and UUC
e.g. Proline encoded by CCU, CCC, CCA and CCG


Transfer RNAs = tRNAs
tRNAs bring/transfer the amino acids
One given tRNA always brings the SAME amino acid
When making the protein, the mRNA sequence is used as a template
First codon – First amino acid is brought

Second codon – Second amino acid is brought
etc…
The tRNAs recognise the codons
How ?
Using the complementarity of bases between mRNA and tRNAs

An anticodon is complementary to a
codon
Genetic code is
degenerate
One amino acid will be attached to

One tRNA - one anticodon (TRP and Met)
Or
More than one tRNA – more than one anticodon
(LEU – 6 tRNAs – 6 anticodons)


Transfer RNAs = tRNAs
tRNAs bring/transfer the amino acids
One given tRNA always brings the SAME amino acid
When making the protein, the mRNA sequence is used as a template
First codon – First amino acid is brought

Second codon – Second amino acid is brought
etc…
The tRNAs recognise the codons
How ?
Using the complementarity of bases between mRNA and tRNAs

2. The genetic code contains “punctuation codons”

2.1 The three stop codons
 Three codons do not encode any amino acids

UAA UAG UGA
 If they are “read” by the ribosome, translation will end
 They do not attract any tRNA+amino acid
 They attract a release factor = a protein that can fit

in the ribosome where
new tRNA+amino acid
enter the ribosome
 Presence of release factor in ribosome ends translation
 The last amino acid is encoded by the codon

just before the stop codon

2. The genetic code contains “punctuation codons”

2.2 The Start/Methionine codon
 The codon AUG encodes the amino acid Methionine

AND
The codon AUG marks the position where translation starts
CONFUSION ?
What if a mRNA contains several AUG codons ?
Start translation at each AUG?
Multiple proteins out of

one single mRNA?
 Only the first AUG is THE start codon

Any other AUG is used for Methionine
 All proteins have Methionine as their

first amino acid
3. The genetic code is non-overlapping

 In a mRNA molecule, codons are consecutive
 They are read one by one, one after the other, in a continuous manner
 A base is never part of two different codons
 From 5’ to 3’ end of the mRNA
 First codon (AUG) codes for the first amino acid

Second codon codes for the second amino acid
etc…
Until stop codon ends translation

3. The genetic code is non-overlapping
An anticodon is complementary to a
codon
Genetic code is
non-overlapping
A tRNA matches one codon, then the next

tRNA matches the next codon
Genetic code is
degenerate
One amino acid will be attached to

One tRNA - one anticodon (TRP and Met)
Or
More than one tRNA – more than one anticodon
(LEU – 6 tRNAs – 6 anticodons)

4. The genetic code is more-or-less universal
 All organisms use the same genetic code
 One exception = mitochondria in humans (Edexcel)
 A few exceptions (reality)
 Consequence: Transgenic organisms are possible
Gene A from organism A encoding protein A

Transferred into organism B = genetic transformation
Organism B is now transgenic for gene A from organism A
Organism B will produce protein A from gene A

A2 Edexcel Biology Session 4 6 Genetic C

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Session 4.

Unit 4: Development, Plants and the Environment

The genetic code

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Unit 4: Development, Plants and the Environment

The genetic code

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Proteins are the actors of cells

Each amino acid in the protein: 20 choices

Protein of 100 aa = 20100 different possibilities

Huge variety of proteins

Information for primary structure of proteins is contained in genes

Genes made of DNA

An overview of gene expression

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Deoxyribonucleic acid Ribonucleic acid

One DNA strand

Phosphate Deoxyribose Nitrogen bases

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

The two strands of DNA are antiparallel (opposite directions)

0.34 nm3’ end

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

One RNA strand “single-stranded RNA”

mRNA = Messenger RNA

Used as a template for protein synthesis

Phosphate Deoxyribose Nitrogen bases

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

One strand Two strands

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

There are many types of RNAs

tRNAs = transfer RNA

ONLY mRNA are used in translation

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Why the word “Translation” ?

From one language to another

From “mRNA language” to “protein language”

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

mRNA language is composed of FOUR letters

Protein language is composed of 20 “letters”

alanine - ala - A arginine - arg – R asparagine - asn - N

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

How to know which amino acid is needed?

When we can only use nucleotides

The Genetic code

Unit 4: Development, Plants and the Environment

The genetic code

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

AAA AAC AAG AAU

AAAA AAAC AAAG AAAU

AAAA AAAC AAAG AAAU

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

mRNA codons Coding strand = Sense strand = non-template strand

U is replaced by T A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

The 20 amino acids found in proteins

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Unit 4: Development, Plants and the Environment

The genetic code

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Synthetic RNA Templates and In Vitro Translation 1/2

 Use these homopolymeric RNA as templates for translation, individually