Answer to Question #165740 in Genetics for Sam

Question

Discuss how the genetic code allows proteins to be synthesised with minimal errors taking place, including:

• triplet codes

• codon

• anticodon

• degenerate code

• non-overlapping 

Answer 1

Triplet Codes

The genetic code for life is a triplet base code. It is known that adjacent codons can influence translation of a given codon and that codon pair biases occur throughout nature. We show that mRNA translation at a given codon can be affected by the two previous codons.

Codon

A codon is a sequence of three DNA or RNA nucleotides that corresponds with a specific amino acid or stop signal during protein synthesis.Codons provide the key that allows these two languages to be translated into each other.

Anticodon

Anticodons are found on molecules of tRNA. Their function is to base pair with the codon on a strand of mRNA during translation. This action ensures that the correct amino acid will be added to the growing polypeptide chain. A tRNA molecule will enter the ribosome bound to an amino acid.

Degenerate code

A genetic code is degenerate because there are many instances in which different codons specify the same amino acid. A genetic code in which some amino acids may each be encoded by more than one codon.

Non overlapping

The genetic code is nonoverlapping, i.e.,the adjacent codons do not overlap.A nonoverlapping code means that the same letter is not used for two different codons. In other words, no single base can take part in the formation of more than one codon.