Final answer:
RNA is comprised of nucleotides, which include a phosphate group, a pentose sugar (ribose), and a nitrogen-containing base. It takes three nucleotides, forming a codon, to specify a single amino acid in protein synthesis. tRNA is the type of RNA that carries an amino acid, and ribosomal components are synthesized in the nucleolus.
Step-by-step explanation:
RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a nucleic acid that plays an essential role in the coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes. RNA is composed of nucleotides, each of which consists of one or more phosphate groups, a pentose sugar (in the case of RNA, this sugar is ribose), and a nitrogen-containing base. There are four nitrogenous bases in RNA, which are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U), with uracil replacing thymine found in DNA.
When it comes to coding for amino acids, three RNA nucleotides, also known as a codon, are required to specify a single amino acid. This tri-nucleotide sequence allows for the diverse range of amino acids to be encoded within the RNA molecule. Although nucleotides are the building blocks of both DNA and RNA, amino acids are not found in the structure of DNA or RNA but are rather the end product of the protein-coding process.
In protein synthesis, transfer RNA (tRNA) is the type of RNA that is covalently bound to an amino acid. This charged tRNA molecule plays a pivotal role in the translation process, bringing appropriate amino acids to the ribosome to be added to the growing polypeptide chain. The components of ribosomes, essential for protein synthesis, are synthesized in the nucleolus of the cell's nucleus.