C2005/F2401 '09 -- Outline for Lecture 14 Last posted/updated 10/25/09 05:52 PM

1. Wrap up of Translation 

A. Role of Ribosomes

    1. Overall Structure & Function

    2. How Ribosomes Work (See handout 13B)

        a. How ribosomes move -- A, P & E sites

        b. Polysomes

    3. Detailed Structure & Assembly (See handout 14A, bottom)

    4. Peptidyl Transferase is a ribozyme

B. Translational Starts & Stops

C. More on tRNA 

    1. Loading -- Energy & Specificity Issues (Handout 14B)

    2. Wobble & Degeneracy (Handout 14A, top)

D. Summary of how "RNA makes Protein" 

• How many different types of RNA do you need? How many tRNA's constitute a complete set? (wobble and degeneracy)
• Software (mRNA) vs hardware (tRNA and rRNA)
• Reminder: DNA codes for all kinds of RNA -- tRNA, rRNA & mRNA

2. Mutations

• Why mistakes in DNA synthesis are more serious than mistakes in RNA or protein synthesis
• Types of  mutations -- insertions, deletions, substitutions, frameshifts
•  Importance of mutations

Next lecture: Operons and how they work, and then on to bacterial and viral genetics, or "How do bacteria and viruses pass on their DNA?"