RNA and Protein Synthesis

Answer Key

Vocabulary: amino acid, anticodon, codon, gene, messenger RNA, nucleotide, ribosome, RNA,
RNA polymerase, transcription, transfer RNA, translation

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

[Note: The purpose of these questions is to activate prior knowledge and get students thinking.
Students are not expected to know the answers to the Prior Knowledge Questions.]
1. Suppose you want to design and build a house. How would you communicate your design
plans with the construction crew that would work on the house?
Answers will vary. Sample answer: I would draw plans for the house and make copies of the
plans for the crew.

2. Cells build large, complicated molecules, such as proteins. What do you think cells use as
their design plans for proteins?
Answers will vary. [DNA contains the instructions for building proteins.]

Gizmo Warm-up
Just as a construction crew uses blueprints to build a house, a
cell uses DNA as plans for building proteins. In addition to DNA,
another nucleic acid, called RNA, is involved in making proteins.
In the RNA and Protein Synthesis Gizmo, you will use both
DNA and RNA to construct a protein out of amino acids.
1. DNA is composed of the bases adenine (A), cytosine (C),
guanine (G), and thymine (T). RNA is composed of adenine,
cytosine, guanine, and uracil (U).
Look at the SIMULATION pane. Is the shown molecule DNA
or RNA? How do you know?
It is DNA. It contains thymine instead of uracil.
2. RNA polymerase is a type of enzyme. Enzymes help chemical reactions occur quickly.
Click the Release enzyme button, and describe what happens.
The two strands of the DNA molecule are separated.

Activity A:

Get the Gizmo ready:

If necessary, click Release enzyme.

Transcription

Introduction: The first stage of building a protein involves a process known as transcription.
In transcription, a segment of DNA serves as a template to produce a complementary strand of
RNA. This complementary strand is called messenger RNA, or mRNA.
Question: What occurs during transcription?
1. Experiment: Like DNA, RNA follows base-pairing rules. Experiment to find which RNA
nucleotide on the right side of the Gizmo will successfully pair with the thymine at the top of
the template strand of DNA. (NOTE: The DNA on the right side is the template strand.)
Which RNA base bonded with the thymine? Adenine

2. Experiment: The next three bases on the DNA template strand are adenine, cytosine, and
guanine. Use the Gizmo to answer the following questions:
A. Which RNA base bonds with adenine? Uracil
B. Which RNA base bonds with cytosine? Guanine
C. Which RNA base bonds with guanine? Cytosine

3. Analyze: In molecules of RNA, uracil takes the place of the DNA base thymine.

4. Build: Continue building the molecule of mRNA until you have used all of the RNA
nucleotides. What is the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA strand you built?
AUG CUG ACC UAG

5. Apply: Suppose a template strand of DNA had the following sequence:

T A C

G G A

T A A

C T A

C C G

G G T

A T T

C A A

C C A

U A A

G U U

What would be the complementary strand of mRNA?

A U G

C C U

A U U

G A U

G G C

6. Predict: How would a change in the sequence of nucleotides in a DNA molecule affect the
mRNA transcribed from the DNA molecule?
Any change would be reflected in the mRNA molecule.

Activity B:
Translation

Get the Gizmo ready:

Once the mRNA strand has been built, click Continue.

Introduction: After a strand of mRNA has been built, the strand exits the cells nucleus. The
second stage of protein synthesis, called translation, occurs next. During translation, the strand
of mRNA is used to build a chain of amino acids.
Question: What occurs during translation?
1. Observe: Examine the strand of mRNA on
the SIMULATION pane. Every group of
three bases of mRNA is called a codon.
In the table at right, list the nitrogen bases
in each codon. (Hint: Start from the top of
the strand and read down.) The first mRNA
codon is called the universal start codon.

Codon

mRNA bases

AUG

CUG

ACC

UAG

2. Predict: Translation starts when a ribosome (the purple structure on the SIMULATION
pane) binds to a strand of mRNA. Transfer RNA, or tRNA, begins bringing amino acids into
the ribosome. Each tRNA molecule carries only one kind of amino acid. This amino acid is
determined by the tRNAs anticodon, a set of three unpaired bases.
Which anticodon do you think would attach to the mRNAs start codon? UAC
Use the Gizmo to check your answer.

3. Observe: Place the next two anticodons on the mRNA strand. What happens?
The adjacent amino acids attach to one another while a tRNA molecule detaches from the
mRNA and exits the ribosome.
As each tRNA molecule binds to the mRNA, the ribosome joins the amino acid carried by
the tRNA to the growing amino acid chain.

4. Describe: UAG (as well as UAA and UGA) is an example of a stop codon. Molecules called
release factors bind to stop codons. Place the release factor on the mRNA molecule.
What happens?
The amino acid chain is released from the tRNA, and the release factor and final tRNA
molecule exit the ribosome.
Click Continue. Your protein is now complete. Most actual proteins consist of sequences of
hundreds of amino acids.
(Activity B continued on next page)

Activity B (continued from previous page)

5. Infer: Why do you think stop and start codon signals are necessary for protein synthesis?
Without start and stop codon signals, there would be no way to begin or end the process of
translation.

6. Summarize: Describe the processes of transcription and translation in your own words,
based on what you have observed in the Gizmo.
Transcription:
Sample answer:
Transcription begins when the enzyme RNA polymerase splits the DNA molecule into two
strands. Complementary mRNA nucleotides attach to the DNA template, forming an mRNA
molecule. The mRNA molecule is similar to the DNA molecule except that uracil replaces
thymine. The completed mRNA strand then detaches from the DNA molecule.
Translation:
Sample answer:
The mRNA molecule moves to the ribsome. The first mRNA codon, called the start codon
(AUG), lines up with the ribosome. A corresponding tRNA molecule (UAC) attaches to the
start codon. The tRNA molecule is also attached to an amino acid. A second tRNA molecule
and its accompanying amino acid attach to the second mRNA codon. The two amino acids
form a bond. More amino acids are added to the molecule as tRNA molecules attach to the
mRNA codons until the strand is complete.

Extension:
Genes and
traits

Get the Gizmo ready:

You will not need to use the Gizmo for this activity.

Introduction: Inside a ribosome, amino acids are linked together to form a protein molecule. As
the chain of amino acids grows, it tends to coil and form a three-dimensional shape. The
complex shape that results determines the properties of the protein. Proteins have a wide
variety of structures and perform many essential functions in living things.
A sequence of DNA that codes for a specific protein is called a gene. By coding for proteins,
genes determine an organisms inherited traits.
Question: How do genes code for specific proteins and traits?
1. Translate: Each codon codes for one of 20 amino acids. This code is universal among all
living things. For example, the mRNA codon GGU codes for the amino acid glycine in every
living thing, from a bacteria to an elephant.
Examine the codon chart below. The amino acid coded for by a specific mRNA codon can
be determined by finding the first base of the codon along the left side of the table, the
second base along the top of the table, and the third base along the right side of the table.

_________________________________________________________________________

What amino acids do the following codons code for?

AUG: Methionine (Start)

CUG: Leucine

(Extension continued on next page)

ACC: Threonine

UAG: Stop

Extension (continued from previous page)

2. Apply: Suppose you wanted a protein that consists of the amino acid sequence methionine,
asparagine, valine, and histidine. Give an mRNA sequence that would code for this protein.
AUG, AAU (or AAC)

GUU (or GUC, GUA, GUG)

CAU (or CAC)

3. Summarize: How do genes determine the traits of an organism? Explain in detail.

Sample answer:
A gene is made up of a series of nucleotides on a DNA strand. During transcription, an
mRNA strand is built on the DNA sequence. The mRNA strand then moves to the ribosome
and a protein is built based on the sequence of codons in the mRNA. The sequence of
amino acids determines the shape and function of the protein molecule. The shape and
function of protein molecules determine the traits of organisms.

4. Extend your thinking: Sometimes errors occur during transcription or translation. Examine
the codon chart on the previous page. Notice that each amino acid is coded for by several
different codons. For example, alanine is coded for by GCU, GCC, GCA, and GCG.
How might this offset transcription or translation errors?
Slight changes to a codon (for example, UUU changing to UUC) would result in no change
to the amino acid coded for, and thus no change to the protein. This decreases the chance
that a transcription or translation error will cause a faulty protein to form.

5. Think and discuss: Consider the two following statements:

The theory of evolution states that all living things had a single common ancestor.
The translation between mRNA and amino acids is the same for all living things. (For
example, the mRNA codon CAG codes for glutamine in all living things.)
Does the second statement support the theory of evolution? Explain why or why not. If
possible, discuss your answer with your teacher and classmates.
Sample answer:
If different groups of living things were not related to one another, it would be likely that
transcription would work differently as well. The fact that transcription is the same for all
living things is strong evidence that all living things are related and may have descended
from a single ancestor.