Question

Using the codon chart shown above, convert this mRNA strand into an amino acid sequence.
UAC GCG UGC ACG AUG CAG UAC UAG

Answer 1

To convert the mRNA strand into an amino acid sequence, we need to translate the mRNA codons into their corresponding amino acids using the genetic code. Here are the steps:

1. Break down the mRNA sequence into codons, which are groups of three nucleotides.
2. Use a codon chart to find the corresponding amino acid for each codon.

The mRNA strand you provided is:
**UAC GCG UGC ACG AUG CAG UAC UAG**

Now, let's divide it into codons:
1. UAC
2. GCG
3. UGC
4. ACG
5. AUG
6. CAG
7. UAC
8. UAG

Now let's translate each codon using a standard codon chart:
1. UAC - Tyrosine (Tyr or Y)
2. GCG - Alanine (Ala or A)
3. UGC - Cysteine (Cys or C)
4. ACG - Threonine (Thr or T)
5. AUG - Methionine (Met or M) - this is also a start codon
6. CAG - Glutamine (Gln or Q)
7. UAC - Tyrosine (Tyr or Y)
8. UAG - Stop codon (no amino acid)

Now, we can write the amino acid sequence:
**Tyr-Ala-Cys-Thr-Met-Gln-Tyr** (the sequence ends here as UAG is a stop codon).

Therefore, the final amino acid sequence is:
**Tyrosine-Alanine-Cysteine-Threonine-Methionine-Glutamine-Tyrosine**.