Question

Describe the steps in translation termination.

Answer 1

Translation termination: When a stop codon is reached, the ribosome releases the polypeptide.

Steps in translation termination:

i) When a ribosome reaches the stop codon UAG, UAA, or UGA on an mRNA strand then the synthesis of protein is terminated.

ii) A release factor binds to the ribosome and includes a water molecule to the end of the amino acid chain and hydrolyzes the polypeptide chain from the tRNA, which permits the protein to exit the ribosome.

iii) Without the stop codon, the process of protein synthesis would simply stop without releasing the completed protein.

Several ribosomes translate an mRNA at the same time, which forms polysome and produce many polypeptides simultaneously from a single mRNA.