Translation

Worksheet

BIO206H5 | Introduction to Cell & Molecular Biology

University of Toronto Mississauga
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Due to the amount of material covered in these worksheets, students are expected to complete all exercises prior to attending
tutorials. The goal of tutorial class time is to address material in the worksheet that the students find challenging. It is up to the TA’s
discretion to volunteer covering material that might be relevant but not directly asked by students.

1. Which amino acids’ codon(s), if altered, would most likely lead to premature termination of translation? Please explain your
answer.

2. One of the tRNA genes for tyrosine has a mutation in its anticodon sequence.
a. What might be the possible consequences of this change?
b. How would you determine which tRNA-Tyr anticodon was altered?

3. What would be the effect of truncating the 3’end of the 16S rRNA of a prokaryote?

4. List instances in which GTP plays a role in protein synthesis.

5. Does RNA have catalytic abilities?

6. Which of the following mutations would most likely have the severest consequences: Explain your reasoning.
a. A change in amino acid recognition of an aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase
b. A frame shift mutation at the end of the coding sequence of a gene
c. A mutation at a splice junction

7. List a few similarities between prokaryotic and eukaryotic translation (i.e. protein synthesis).

8. List a few differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic translation.

Exploring NCBI

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), located in the United States, houses a variety of databases and computing
tools as well as provides links to other external databases and computing tools relevant to cell and molecular biology. NCBI is a lead-
member of an international consortium whose goals are to create central ‘hubs’ from which a variety of biological information can be
publically accessed, in order to further our understanding of genes and their products in health and disease. NCBI is the central
repository for all known nucleotide and amino acid sequence data obtained from all types of biological organisms and is a key resource
for all molecular biologists. During the coming weeks we will explore this website and some of its capabilities.

- Go to the NCBI website http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

- Type in the term ‘insulin homo sapiens’ in the search bar.
- Choose Gene as the database of interest.
- Click Search.
- Filter results to those found in Homo sapiens.
- Click on the INS gene (ID: 3630)
- Read the summary provided under the Summary heading.
- Scroll down to the Genomic regions, transcripts, and products section.
- Click on the sequence representing insulin. Blue and red rectangles and lines now appear below it.

1. What does the green structure represent?

2. What do the blue structures immediately below the green structures represent?

3. What process results in the production of the blue structures?

4. What is the difference between the different blue structures belonging to insulin?

5. What do the red structures represent?

BIO206H5 | Introduction to Cell & Molecular Biology University of Toronto Mississauga

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6. What process results in the production of the red structures?

7. What do the lines represent in the red structures?

8. Do the red lines exist in reality?

9. What is the difference between the different red structures?

10. What are the 1st 6 bases read in each of the blue structures? Hint: The zooming tool will allow you to explore the sequence and
retrieve this information.

11. The 1st amino acid incorporated in a protein is always the same. Why do none of those bases in the previous question code for
this amino acid?

12. Where can the bases that code for this amino acid be found. Can you navigate your way through the graphical panel to find
these bases? What is the location number of the 1st of the 3 bases relative to the chromosome? Hint: The zooming tool will
allow you to retrieve this information.

13. Are these bases encoded by the top or bottom line of grey letters? (The 2 grey lines of letters can be found at the top of the
Genomic regions, transcripts, and products section if you zoom in enough).

14. Provide 3 names to each of the 2 different lines of letters.

15. Towards the end of the gene, it is visible that some of the blue structures do not have corresponding red structures below them.
Why is this the case?

16. What are the beginning and end of the red structures called?

BIO206H5 | Introduction to Cell & Molecular Biology University of Toronto Mississauga