Translation of mRNA - The genetic basis for protein synthesis

13 important questions on Translation of mRNA - The genetic basis for protein synthesis

How is the RNA transcribed form a protein-encoding gene called?

Messenger RNA (mRNA)

Who first suggested the idea that a relationship exists between  genes and the production of proteins, and when?

Archibald Garrod, a British physician, at the beginning of the twentieth century.

What did Garrod study?

He studied patients with alkaptonuria, a disorder in which the patient's body accumulates abnormal levels of alkapton. Garrod proposed that this disorder is caused by a defective enzyme.
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Why did Garrod think that the defect in the enzyme was caused by a genetic disorder?

- He knew that alkaptonuria is an inherited trait that follows an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance.
- The patient must have inherited the mutant gene from both parents
- Therefore, Garrod proposed that a relationship exists between the inheritance of the trait and the inheritance of a defective enzyme.

Which two geneticists started an experimental system in the 1940s, to discover the relationship between genes, enzymes and traits?

Beadle and Tatum.

What was the underlying assumption behind the approach of Beadle and Tatum?

The underlying assumption was that a relationship exists between genes and the production of enzymes.

Which organism did Beadle and Tatum use in their experiments?

Neurospora crassa, a common bread mold.

Which 5 types of Neurospora crassa did Beadle and Tatum use?

One wild-type and four mutant strains, which all required methionine for growth.

What was the hypothesis of Beadle and Tatum?

Each mutant strain might be blocked at only a single step in the consecutive series of reactions that lead to methionine synthesis (so each of them misses a necessary enzyme for a step).

How was the experiment set up?

- The strains make methionine from homoserine. The intermediates in this synthesis are O-acetylhomoserine, cystathionine, and homocysteine.
- The researchers used five different plates. In the first, they added only the minimum set of nutrients that is required for growth. In the other 4, they added the minimal media and one of the intermediates of the synthesis of methionine.

What were the results of Beadle and Tatum?

- With the minimum set of nutrients, only the wild-type was able to grow.
- When O-acetylhomoserine was added, one of the mutant strains was also able to grow. When cystathionine was added, another strain was also able to grow, and so on.
- When methionine was added, they were all able to grow.

What were the conclusions of Beadle and Tatum?

- In each mutant, one enzyme neede for the synthesis of methionine was missing. Therefore, each of them needed one of the intermediates to make methionine.
- A single gene controlled the synthesis of one single enzyme.

In which 4 ways has the one-gene/one-enzyme hypothesis been modified?

1. Not only enzymes, but all proteins are encoded by genes.
2. Some proteins are composed of two or more different polypeptides, so saying that a protein-encoding gene encodes a polypeptide is more accurate.
3. Not all genes encode polypeptides.
4. One gene can encode multiple polypeptides.

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