How do aminoacyl tRNA synthetases function during the process of translation?
During translation, protein is synthesised by the ribosome, an protein/RNA enzyme complex which catalyses the peptidyl transferase reaction. This transfers an amino acid from a transfer RNA (tRNA) molecule to the growing peptide chain, using messenger RNA (mRNA) produced from DNA as a template, where three base pairs code for one amino acid in the growing protein chain. Before this can occur, the amino acids must be attached to the tRNA molecules so they can be correctly added in relation to the mRNA code. Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases attach the amino acids to the tRNA, producing aminoacyl-tRNA’s for each amino acid. For example, seryl-tRNA synthetase adds serine to the specific tRNA, so serine can then be added to the protein according to the codon on the mRNA. The part of the tRNA recognised by the ribosome is the anti-codon, which is complimentary to the codon. So in simple summary as an answer to your question, aminoacyl tRNA synthetases attach amino acids to tRNA for use in translat
