Stop codon

Stop codon (red dot) of the human mitochondrial DNA MT-ATP8 gene, and start codon (blue circle) of the MT-ATP6 gene. For each nucleotide triplet (square brackets), the corresponding amino acid is given (one-letter code), either in the +1 reading frame for MT-ATP8 (in red) or in the +3 frame for MT-ATP6 (in blue). In this genomic region, the two genes overlap.

In molecular biology, a stop codon (or termination codon) is a codon (nucleotide triplet within messenger RNA) that signals the termination of the translation process of the current protein.[1] Most codons in messenger RNA correspond to the addition of an amino acid to a growing polypeptide chain, which may ultimately become a protein; stop codons signal the termination of this process by binding release factors, which cause the ribosomal subunits to disassociate, releasing the amino acid chain.

While start codons need nearby sequences or initiation factors to start translation, a stop codon alone is sufficient to initiate termination.

  1. ^ Griffiths AJF, Miller JH, Suzuki DT, Lewontin RC, Gelbart WM (2000). "Chapter 10 (Molecular Biology of Gene Function): Genetic code: Stop codons". An Introduction to Genetic Analysis. W.H. Freeman and Company.