Translation

Translation (biology) is the process by which ribosomes in the cytoplasm or ER synthesize proteins after the process of transcription of DNA to RNA in the cell's nucleus. The entire process is called gene expression.

Overview

In translation, mRNA (messenger RNA) is decoded by a ribosome to produce a specific amino acid chain, or polypeptide. The polypeptide later folds into an active protein and performs its functions in the cell. The process of translation is similar in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Process

Initiation

In initiation, the small subunit of the ribosome binds to the 5' end of mRNA with the help of initiation factors (IF), functioning to prevent premature binding of the mRNA to the large subunit of the ribosome.

Elongation

During elongation, successive amino acids are added to the growing chain by creating peptide bonds. The energy for this process is provided by GTP, a molecule similar to ATP.

Termination

Termination of the polypeptide happens when the A site of the ribosome faces a stop codon (UAA, UAG, or UGA). When this happens, no tRNA can recognize it, but releasing factor can recognize nonsense codons and causes the release of the polypeptide chain.

See also

• Genetic code
• Molecular biology
• Protein biosynthesis

References

Translation Resources
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