Question

How many nucleotides are needed to specify three amino acids? (1 point)

Answer 1

Take an anticodon, which is simply a three nucleotide base sequence on the tRNA. An anticodon can only carry one amino acid on it, and it has 3 nucleotides. So, take three anticodons, and how many nucleotides do you get? 9! And since an anticodon has 3 nucleotides, and since an anticodon can only have one amino acid riding on it, there must be three anticodons for three amino acids. So, then, a total of 9 nucleotides are needed.

So the answer is 9.

Answer 2

9 nucleotides

Step-by-step explanation:

The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology follows a pattern of gene-mRNA-protein. The genetic material is stored as DNA, which contains the instructions needed for an organism to make useful products (proteins). The DNA molecule is a nucleic acid made up of nucleotide sequences (Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine).

The information contained in the DNA needs to be expressed via the process of transcription and translation. The transcription involves copying the information in the DNA to an RNA molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA). The nucleotides in the mRNA are read during translation in a group of three called CODONS. A codon is a triplet nucleotide sequence in mRNA that specifies a particular amino acid (which makes up proteins).

Since a group of three (3) nucleotides (codon) specify one amino acid, it will take a group of nine (9) nucleotides or three codons to specify three amino acids.