Question

A. In principle what would be the minimum number of consecutive nucleotides necessary to correspond to a single amino acid to produce a workable genetic code? Assume that each amino acid is encoded by the same number of nucleotides. Explain your reasoning.

B. On average how often would the nucleotide sequence CGATTG occur in a DNA strand 4000 bases long? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

The minimum number of consecutive nucleotides necessary to correspond to a single amino acid in the genetic code is three nucleotides, which is also known as a codon. Each codon codes for one amino acid, and there are a total of 64 possible codons using the four nucleotides (A, C, G, and T/U).

Step-by-step explanation:

The minimum number of consecutive nucleotides necessary to correspond to a single amino acid in the genetic code is three nucleotides, which is also known as a codon. Each codon codes for one amino acid, and there are a total of 64 possible codons using the four nucleotides (A, C, G, and T/U). This is more than enough to encode the 20 common amino acids found in proteins.

minimum number of consecutive nucleotides necessary to correspond to a single amino acid in the genetic code is three nucleotides, which is also known as a codon. Each codon codes for one amino acid, and there are a total of 64 possible codons using the four nucleotides (A, C, G, and T/U).