Question

List and describe the role of the 3 types of rna.

Answer 1

There are three RNAs with a role in the synthesis of protein.

mRNA, or messenger RNA, is the link between a gene and a protein. The main role of this ribonucleic acid is in transcription (”reading“) of DNA. The DNA is transcribed by RNA polymerase, and the resulting product of this process is mRNA. This form of RNA can be modified post-transcriptionally with methylguanosine caps and polyadenosine tails. RNA carries the genetic information which is copied from DNA and the information has a form of three-base code (“words”), codons. Each of these codons specifies a particular amino acid.

tRNA or transfer RNA is the molecule with the main function in translation by "decoding" the mRNA message during this process. Each type of amino acid has its own type of tRNA and also has a three-base sequence (anticodon) that can bind complementary with the codons in the mRNA.

rRNA or ribosomal RNA is a main component of ribosomes. rRNA associates with a set of proteins to form ribosomes which catalyze the assembly of amino acids into polypeptide chains (protein).

 

There are also a few more types of RNA which have a regulatory function like, microRNA or siRNA.