stop codon
Americannoun
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Any of three codons in a molecule of messenger RNA that do not code for an amino acid and thereby signal the termination of the synthesis of a protein. The three stop codons are UAA, UAG, and UGA, where U is uracil, A is adenine, and G is guanine.
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Also called termination codon
Example Sentences
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It treats a particular three letter sequence, typically a stop codon that marks the end of a protein, in two different ways.
From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026
"The UAG codon is like a fork in the road, where it can be interpreted either as a stop codon or as a pyrrolysine residue," Shalvarjian said.
From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026
They swapped out the same stop codon in E. coli, but they added another layer of protection.
From Science Magazine • Oct. 19, 2022
Why is the stop codon necessary for translation?
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
There is a silent mutation in peptide 3 and peptide 2 has a stop codon due to mutation.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
