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:
- Break down the mRNA sequence into codons, which are groups of three nucleotides.
- 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:
- UAC
- GCG
- UGC
- ACG
- AUG
- CAG
- UAC
- UAG
Now let's translate each codon using a standard codon chart:
- UAC - Tyrosine (Tyr or Y)
- GCG - Alanine (Ala or A)
- UGC - Cysteine (Cys or C)
- ACG - Threonine (Thr or T)
- AUG - Methionine (Met or M) - this is also a start codon
- CAG - Glutamine (Gln or Q)
- UAC - Tyrosine (Tyr or Y)
- 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.