During translation, what is the role of mRNA?

• A. The template that specifies the amino acid sequence
• B. The amino acid that forms the protein
• C. A catalyst for peptide bond formation
• D. The complete ribosome

Answer: (A)

During translation, mRNA serves as the template that determines the order of amino acids in the protein. It carries codons, each specifying a particular amino acid, and the ribosome reads these codons three nucleotides at a time. tRNA delivers the matching amino acids to the growing polypeptide chain, aligning via anticodons complementary to the mRNA codons. The actual peptide bonds are formed by the ribosome’s catalytic RNA, not by the mRNA itself. So the role of mRNA is to specify the amino acid sequence by providing the template.