Using the codon chart shown above, convert this mRNA strand into an amino acid sequence.

UAC GCG UGC ACG AUG CAG UAC UAG

1 answer

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.