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Chapter 10 Molecular Biology of Gene Function Key Concepts DNA is transcribed into an mRNA molecule, which is then translated during protein synthesis. Translation requires transfer RNAs and ribosomes. The genetic code is a nonoverlapping triplet code. Special sequences signal the initiation and termination of both transcription and translation. In eukaryotes, the initial RNA transcript is processed in several ways to generate the final mRNA. Many eukaryotic genes contain segments of DNA, termed introns, that interrupt the normal gene coding sequence. The primary eukaryotic transcript is spliced in one of a variety of ways to remove the RNA encoded by the intron and to yield the final mRNA. Introduction In this chapter, we shall see how genetic information is turned into functional macromolecules. The initial products of all genes are ribonucleic acids (RNAs). RNA is similar to DNA, except that ribose is the sugar used in RNA, and uracil replaces thymine. RNA is produced by a process that copies the nucleotide sequence in DNA. Because this process is reminiscent of transcribing (copying) written words, the synthesis of RNA is called  HYPERLINK /books/bv.fcgi?rid=iga.glossdiv.6092 \l 5460 transcription, and the RNA product is termed a transcript. We shall see in this chapter that one of the first clues to how DNA directs the synthesis of proteins came from bacteriophages, when it was shown that gene expression resulted in the transcription of RNA molecules from a DNA template. Transcription is catalyzed by an enzyme,  HYPERLINK /books/bv.fcgi?rid=iga.glossdiv.6090 \l 5334 RNA polymerase, and follows rules similar to those of replication. There are several classes of RNA that we shall deal with in this chapter. Informational RNAs are intermediates in the process of decoding genes into polypeptide chains. The informational RNA from which proteins are directly synthesized is messenger RNA (mRNA). In prokaryotes, the transcript, as it is synthesized direct