Table of contents

1. Matter and Measurements4h 31m
2. Atoms and the Periodic Table5h 23m
3. Ionic Compounds2h 18m
4. Molecular Compounds2h 18m
5. Classification & Balancing of Chemical Reactions3h 17m
6. Chemical Reactions & Quantities2h 27m
7. Energy, Rate and Equilibrium3h 46m
8. Gases, Liquids and Solids3h 25m
9. Solutions4h 10m
10. Acids and Bases3h 29m
11. Nuclear Chemistry56m
BONUS: Lab Techniques and Procedures1h 38m
BONUS: Mathematical Operations and Functions47m
12. Introduction to Organic Chemistry1h 34m
13. Alkenes, Alkynes, and Aromatic Compounds2h 12m
14. Compounds with Oxygen or Sulfur1h 6m
15. Aldehydes and Ketones1h 1m
16. Carboxylic Acids and Their Derivatives1h 11m
17. Amines39m
18. Amino Acids and Proteins1h 51m
19. Enzymes1h 37m
20. Carbohydrates1h 41m
21. The Generation of Biochemical Energy2h 8m
22. Carbohydrate Metabolism2h 22m
23. Lipids2h 26m
24. Lipid Metabolism1h 45m
25. Protein and Amino Acid Metabolism1h 37m
26. Nucleic Acids and Protein Synthesis2h 54m

26. Nucleic Acids and Protein Synthesis

Translation: Protein Synthesis

GOB Chemistry

26. Nucleic Acids and Protein Synthesis

Translation: Protein Synthesis

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1:09 minutes

Problem 84a

Textbook Question

Oxytocin is a small peptide hormone involved in the process of birthing and lactation. It contains the nine amino acids shown.
CYIQNCPLG
a. How many nucleotides would be found in the mRNA for this protein?

Verified step by step guidance

Step 1: Understand the relationship between amino acids and codons. Each amino acid in a protein is encoded by a sequence of three nucleotides in the mRNA, known as a codon.

Step 2: Count the number of amino acids in the given peptide sequence. The sequence provided is 'CYIQNCPLG', which contains 9 amino acids.

Step 3: Multiply the number of amino acids by the number of nucleotides per codon. Since each amino acid corresponds to a codon of 3 nucleotides, multiply 9 (amino acids) by 3 (nucleotides per codon).

Step 4: Consider the start codon. In mRNA, the translation process begins with a start codon (AUG), which adds 3 additional nucleotides to the total count.

Step 5: Add the total nucleotides from the amino acids to the nucleotides from the start codon to determine the total number of nucleotides in the mRNA for this protein.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Amino Acids and Codons

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and each amino acid is encoded by a sequence of three nucleotides known as a codon. In the case of oxytocin, which consists of nine amino acids, the corresponding mRNA will have a sequence of codons that directly translate to these amino acids.

mRNA Synthesis

mRNA, or messenger RNA, is synthesized during the process of transcription, where a DNA template is used to create a complementary RNA strand. The length of the mRNA is determined by the number of codons needed to encode the entire protein, which is directly related to the number of amino acids in the protein.

Nucleotide Count in mRNA

Since each codon consists of three nucleotides, the total number of nucleotides in the mRNA can be calculated by multiplying the number of amino acids by three. For oxytocin, with nine amino acids, the mRNA would contain 27 nucleotides, as each amino acid corresponds to one codon of three nucleotides.

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SYSMQHFRWGKPV

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