What are the two main steps in gene expression?

Producing a protein from information in a DNA gene is a two-step process. The first
step is a synthesis of an RNA that is complementary to one of the strands of DNA.
This is called transcription. In the second step, called translation, the
information in the RNA is used to make a polypeptide. Such an informational RNA is
called a messenger RNA (mRNA) to denote the fact that it carries information —
like a message —from a gene to the cell’s protein factories.
Like DNA and RNA, proteins are polymers —long, chain-like molecules. The
monomers, or links, in the protein chain are called amino acids. DNA and protein
have this informational relationship: Three nucleotides in the DNA gene stand for
one amino acid in a protein. The following Figure summarizes the process of
expressing a protein-encoding gene:
Gene: ATGAGTAACGCG Nontemplate strand
TACTCATTGCGC Template strand
Transcription
mRNA: AUGAGUAACGCG
Translation
Protein: MetSerAsnAla
Figure: Outline of gene expression. In the first step, transcription, the template
strand (black) is transcribed into mRNA. Note that the nontemplate strand (blue) of
the DNA has the same sequence (except for the T–U change) as the mRNA (red). In
the second step, the mRNA is translated into protein (green). This little “gene ” is
only 12 bp long and codes for only four amino acids (a tetrapeptide). Real genes are
much larger.

Notice that the mRNA has the same sequence (except that U ’s substitute for T
’s) as the top strand (blue) of the DNA. An mRNA holds the information for making a
polypeptide, so we say it “codes for ” a polypeptide, or “encodes ” a polypeptide. (
Note: It is redundant to say “encodes for ” a polypeptide.) In this case, the mRNA
codes for the following string of amino acids: methionine-serine-asparagine-alanine,
which is abbreviated Met-Ser-Asn-Ala. We can see that the codeword (or codon )
for methionine in this mRNA is the triplet AUG; similarly, the codons for serine,
asparagine, and alanine are AGU, AAC, and GCG, respectively.
Because the bottom DNA strand is complementary to the mRNA, we know that it
served as the template for making the mRNA. Thus, we call the bottom strand the
template strand, or the transcribed strand. For the same reason, the top strand is
the nontemplate strand, or the nontranscribed strand. Because the top strand in
our example has essentially the same coding properties as the corresponding
mRNA, many geneticists call it the coding strand.
The opposite strand would therefore be the anticoding strand. Also, since the top
strand has the same sense as the mRNA, this same system of nomenclature refers
to this top strand as the sense strand, and to the bottom strand as the antisense
strand.
Transcription:
The same base pairing rules as DNA replication: T, G, C, and A in the DNA pair
with A, C, G, and U, respectively, in the RNA product. These chemical reactions such
as transcription are enzyme-catalyzed. The enzyme that directs transcription is
called RNA polymerase. Transcription has three phases: initiation,
elongation, and termination.
1. Initiation First, the enzyme recognizes a region called a promoter, which
lies just “upstream ” of the gene. The polymerase binds tightly to the
promoter and causes localized melting, or separation, of the two DNA strands
within the promoter.
Next, the polymerase starts building the RNA chain. The substrates, it uses
for this job are the four ribonucleoside triphosphates: ATP, GTP, CTP, and
UTP.
The first, or initiating, substrate is usually a purine nucleotide. After the first
nucleotide is in place, the polymerase joins a second nucleotide to the first,
forming the initial phosphodiester bond in the RNA chain.
2. Elongation During this phase RNA polymerase directs the sequential
binding of ribonucleotides to the growing RNA chain in the 5’ →3’ direction,
As it does so, it moves along the DNA template. This region exposes the
bases of the template DNA one by one so they can pair with the bases of the
incoming ribonucleotides. As soon as the transcription machinery passes, the
two DNA strands wind around each other again, re-forming the double helix.
This points/refers to two fundamental differences between transcription and
DNA replication: (a) RNA polymerase makes only one RNA strand during
transcription, which means that it copies only one DNA strand in a given
gene. (However, the opposite strand may be transcribed in another gene.)
Transcription is therefore said to be asymmetrical.
(b) In transcription, only enough strand of DNA is separated to allow the
polymerase to “read ” the DNA template strand. However, during replication,
the two parental DNA strands separate permanently.
3. Termination Just as promoters serve as initiation signals for transcription,
other regions at the ends of genes, called terminators, signal termination.
These work in conjunction with RNA polymerase to loosen the association
between RNA product and DNA template. The result is that the RNA
dissociates from the RNA polymerase and DNA, thereby stopping
transcription.
RNA sequences are usually written 5’ to 3’ left to right, because RNA is made
in a 5’-to-3’ direction, and, as we will see, mRNA is also translated 5’ to 3’.
Q. 1 Draw a diagram of the cloverleaf structure of a tRNA. Point out the site to
which the amino acid attaches and the site of the anticodon.
Q.2 How does a tRNA serve as an adapter between the 3-bp codons in mRNA and
the amino acids in protein?