McGraw-Hill OnlineMcGraw-Hill Higher EducationLearning Center
Student Center | Instructor Center | Information Center | Home
Web Links
Lecture PowerPoints
Image PowerPoints
Control of Gene Ex...
How Translation Works
Protein Synthesis
Translation Elongation
Translation Termination
Feedback
Help Center


Molecular Biology, 4/e
Robert F. Weaver

The Mechanism of Translation II: Elongation and Termination

How Translation Works

What is Translated during Translation? The two major steps in creating a protein are transcription and translation. Transcription creates an mRNA molecule, using a DNA sequence as a template. DNA and mRNA are similar, although certainly not identical, molecules. An mRNA sequence is essentially a copy of a DNA sequence with the thymines replaced by uracil. The production of mRNA is known as transcription which means copying. Creating a protein from an mRNA sequence is known as translation because the structure of a protein is very different from that of mRNA. Proteins are sequences of amino acids, not bases. The information in the mRNA is converted to a new form – it is translated. A sequence of bases is translated into a sequence of amino acids.

View the animation below, then complete the quiz to test your knowledge of the concept.



1

Translation is the synthesis of
A)mRNA from DNA.
B)mRNA from proteins.
C)proteins from DNA
D)proteins from mRNA
E)proteins from tRNA
2

Which of the following occurs as the ribosome shifts down the mRNA by a distance of three nucleotides?
A)the tRNA that was in the A site moves into the E site
B)the tRNA that was in the P site moves into the A site
C)the tRNA that was in the E site moves into the P site
D)the tRNA that was in the E site moves into the A site
E)the tRNA that was in the P site moves into the E site
3

Translation is terminated when a stop codon is presented at the ________ site.
A)A
B)P
C)E
D)either A or B
E)either A or C
4

The first amino acid enters through the A site.
A)True
B)False
5

The codon of tRNA is complementary to the anticodon of mRNA.
A)True
B)False