Video Transcript
A section of mRNA has the following
codon sequence: five prime AUGGUGCAUCUG three prime. Use the table provided to determine
the correct sequence of amino acids this sequence of codons will be translated into,
reading from the five prime to three prime direction.
During the second stage of protein
synthesis, translation, an mRNA sequence is translated into a sequence of amino
acids, which will go on to eventually form a functioning protein. In order to read the mRNA strand
correctly, we need to look at three nucleotide bases at a time. This is called a codon. Each amino acid is coded for by a
codon. While there are 64 possible codons,
there are only 20 amino acids, so some amino acids are coded for by more than one
codon.
In order to determine the correct
sequence of amino acids, let’s first separate our mRNA sequence into codons. Remember that mRNA is always read
in the five prime to three prime direction. Our mRNA transcript starts with the
codon AUG. This is called the start codon
because it begins the translation process, coding for the amino acid methionine. The second codon is GUG. From our table, we can see that the
second amino acid will be valine. The next codon is CAU, which
corresponds to the amino acid histidine. The final codon of our mRNA
transcript is CUG. This codes for the amino acid
leucine. So this will be the final amino
acid in our sequence.
After reading our mRNA transcript
and using the table provided, we have now determined the correct sequence of amino
acids. Reading from the five prime to
three prime direction, the sequence the codons will be translated into is
methionine, valine, histidine, leucine.
