Transcription: Information Tranfer from DNA to RNA

I. Introductory A. Inherited DNA (genotype) provides specific traits (phenotype) dictated by the expressed Proteins B. One Gene- One Polypeptide Hypothesis II. Transcription - The synthesis of RNA under the direction of DNA A. Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Processes 1. Intermediate step of RNA processing B. The Genetic Code 1. Calculation of number of nucleotides required for a 20 aa code 2. Codon a. start b. stop c. redundancy 3. Practicing with transcribing RNA from DNA sequences a. substitution for T is U b. use of mRNA codon tables to predict peptide sequence from dna code and vise versa c. errors introduced by 1. Insertion 2. Deletion 3. Frame Shifts 4. Silent Mutations 5. Truncations C. Steps of Transcription 1. Initiation a. TATA box within the transcription factor (TF) b. the promoter c. RNA polymerase II d. start codon, terminator sequence, stop codon e. only one DNA template strand required 2. Elongation a. RNA polymerase moving in the 5' to 3' direction 3. Termination a. Slows at termination site, then stops at stop codon D. RNA Processing 1. RNA Modification a. 5' GTP Cap region b. 3' Poly A Tail region c. prevents degradation outside nucleus and targets to the ribosome 2. RNA Splicing a. Introns and Exons b. The Splicesome Protein Complex c. Alternative RNA splicing d. Exon Shuffling