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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"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
PL0344, only TGA functions as a stop codon -- although Dr McGowan found there are more TGA codons than expected in the ciliate's DNA, believed to compensate for the loss of the other two.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2023
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
The stop codon ends translation in order to initiate transcription.
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.
