Contrast the roles of tRNA and mRNA during translation, and list all enzymes that participate in the transcription and translation process.

How do we know, based on studies of Neurospora nutritional mutations, that one gene specifies one enzyme?

You conduct a study in which the transcriptional fusion of regulatory sequences of a particular gene with a reporter gene results in relatively uniform expression of the reporter gene in all cells of an organism. A translational fusion with the same gene shows reporter gene expression only in the nucleus of a specific cell type. Discuss some biological causes for the difference in expression patterns of the two transgenes.

The human mitochondrial genome encodes only 22 tRNAs, but at least 32 tRNAs are needed for cytoplasmic translation. How are all codons in mitochondrial transcripts accommodated by only 22 tRNAs? The Plasmodium mitochondrial genome does not encode any tRNAs; how are genes of the Plasmodium mitochondrial genome translated?

Outline the events that occur during initiation of translation in E. coli.

A portion of a DNA template strand has the base sequence

5′-...ACGCGATGCGTGATGTATAGAGCT...-3′

Assume the mRNA is written in the correct reading frame. Determine the amino acid sequence encoded by this fragment. Identify the N- and C-terminal directions of the polypeptide.

During translation, what molecule bears the codon? the anticodon?

The α chain of eukaryotic hemoglobin is composed of 141 amino acids. What is the minimum number of nucleotides in an mRNA coding for this polypeptide chain?